ELISA  ARMSTRONG 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


The  Very  Young 
Man  and  the  Angel 
Child 


BY  ELISA  ARMSTRONG  *OU| 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE 
TEACUP     CLUB."     ETC 


Published  in  New  York  by 
Dodge  Publishing  Company  at 
One  Hundred  fSL  Fifty  Fifth  Avenue 


[The  Very  Young  Man  and  the  Angel  Child] 


COPYRI3HT  IN  THE  YEAR 
NINETEEN  HUNDRED  BY 
DODGE  PUBLISHING  CO 


PS 
3^63 


15he 

Very  Yoving  MQL!\ 

a.nd  the 

Angel  Child 


Chapter  I 

"SOME  girls  are  born  bachelors;  some 
achieve  bachelorhood,  and  some  have  it  thrust 
upon  them,"  remarked  Belinda,  sententiously. 
"I  am  of  the  first  class;  you  belong  to  the 
second,  while  Miss  Adams  is  a  fair  exponent 
of  the  third.  Dolly,  we  shall  have  to  move 
again." 

"I  suppose  so,  dear;"  the  voice  from  the 
couch  was  very  meek;  "but  really  now, 
Belinda,  it  was  not  my  fault,  was  it?" 

"H'm,  I  suppose  not.  But  I  do  wish  you 
could  manage  to  work  a  little  of  the  sympathy 
7 


525006 

UBRAKX 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Ma.n 

out  of  your  voice — perhaps  elocution  lessons 
would  effect  that;  as  for  your  eyes — goggles, 
and  goggles  only,  might  conceal  that  yearn 
ing  expression,  which  proves  so  fatal.  1  do 
wish  that  you  could  contrive  to  look  a  little 
less  like  a  heroine  out  of  a  job,  Dolly." 

"I'll  try,  dear.  Belinda,  what  do  you  sup 
pose  he  is  doing  now?" 

"Eating  his  dinner,"  said  Belinda,  crossly; 
"that  is  what  a  man  usually  does,  when  he 
says  he  is  about  to  commit  suicide.  Well, 
after  all,  some  restaurant  dinners  are  as  deadly 
as  anything  I  know.  I  shall  commence  flat- 
hunting  first  thing  to-morrow  morning." 

"But  suppose  he  comes  again,  while  you  are 
away,  Belinda?  He  said " 

"Fiddlesticks!"  replied  Belinda,  briskly; 
"put  him  to  taking  down  curtains.  If  he  does, 
that  step-ladder  of  ours  would  take  the  senti 
ment  out  of  anybody.  And,  Dolly " 

"Yes,  dear." 

"If  you  ever  discover  another  literary  genius, 
living  in  the  same  apartment  house,  I'll  never 
forgive  you,  as  long  as  I  live." 
8 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"But,  Belinda,  I  only  said  that  his  work  was 
beautiful  and  that  editors  ought  to  appreciate 
it,  if  they  did  not.  I  don't  see  why  he  should 
decide  that  he  could  not  live  without  me,  just 
because  of  that.  Oh,  dear,  I  am  afraid  that  he 
is  poor,  too !  I  wish " 

"Of  course  he  is,"  retorted  Belinda,  unfeel 
ingly;  "he  wouldn't  be  so  anxious  to  marry, 
if  he  wasn't.  There,  don't  look  so — I  didn't 
mean  it,  and  the  exercise  of  flat-hunting  will 
do  me  good.  We  need  another  closet  anyhow, 
and  a  better  light  for  your  easel.  I — I'm  de 
lighted  to  move,  and,  if  you  want,  I'll  see  him 
this  evening  and  tell  him  that  there  is  really 
no  hope — and  I'll  bribe  the  janitor  to  tell  him 
that  you  are  out  to-morrow.  But,  Dolly,  do 
learn  to  say  'No'  with  a  capital,  and  not 
*n — no/  with  a  very  small  'n,'  as  you  usually 
do.  Let  me  see ;  how  many  times  have  I  given 
the  coup-de-grace  for  you  ?  There  was  young 
Wells,  who  serenaded  you  until  the  police  in 
terfered;  Tom  Nolan,  who  sent  his  best  friend 
to  propose  for  him;  the  widower,  who — why, 
Dolly,  darling,  don't  cry !  I'll  settle  him  in  the 
9 


morning1,  and  tell  you  what,  you  shall  go  and 
stay  with  your  sister,  while  I  attend  to  the  mov 
ing — there!  Look  here,  Dolly,  I'll  go  and 
look  at  that  vacant  flat  in  the  building  where 
Miss  Adams  lives.  She  says  there  isn't  a  man 
in  it  who  even  looks  up  to  see  who  is  coming, 
when  he  hears  the  rustle  of  skirts  on  the  stairs. 
I  think  it  would  be  the  very  place  for  us." 

"I  am  sure  of  it,"  wailed  Dolly;  "do  let  us 
go  at  once,  Belinda  dear!"  And  so  the  deci 
sion  was  reached. 

It  seemed  to  Belinda,  a  day  or  two  later, 
when  she  stood  amid  the  wreck  of  all  her 
dearest  Lares  and  Penates,  that  she  was  a  kind 
of  a  female  Wandering  Jew. 

"This  is  five  times  we  have  moved  in  the  two 
years  that  Dolly  and  I  have  spent  together, 
not  counting  the  regular  summer  flittings," 
she  sighed.  "Well,  I  think  I've  found  the 
right  place,  at  last;  and  it  is  lucky,  too,  for 
the  couch  is  a  bit  wobbly,  and  I  doubt  if  the 
large  jars  will  stand  many  more  trips  to  the 
man  who  mends  china.  It  does  seem  to  me 
JO 


And  the  Angel  Child 

that  we'd  have  saved  money  by  investing  in 
a  frame  building  which  could  be  moved  bodily, 
every  time  the  young  man  next  door  or  across 
the  way,  took  to  proposing  to  Dolly  more  than 
once  a  week!"  So  saying,  she  gathered  up 
the  afternoon  teakettle,  a  growing  plant,  her 
satchel,  a  few  old  and  valuable  tea  cups,  a  hand 
mirror,  a  forgotten  hat,  and  her  umbrella,  and 
went  her  weary  way  to  the  new  abode. 

"Well,  thank  goodness,  the  furniture  is 
here,"  she  said,  as  she  staggered  into  the  hall. 
"Dolly  will  reach  here  not  later  than  seven 
o'clock,  and  we  can  at  least  find  a  pile  of 
cushions  on  which  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  the  ex 
hausted,  to-night !" 

The  janitor  met  her  on  the  landing,  suave 
and  jaunty : 

"Walk  in,  mum,  whether  it  bees  yez  or  th' 
scrubwoman.  The  movers  was  afther  break- 
in'  your  looking-glass,  an'  sorra  a  bit  oov  luck 
will  yez  have  in  th'  house;  but  it's  glad  Oi 
am  t'  see  yez  here.  Oi'd  have  been  afther 
settin'  things  in  order  a  bit,  boot  for  th'  misery 
in  me  side,  thot  made  me  take  a  wee  drop  of 
M 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

th'  crayther,  an'  it's  not  Dinnis  Rafferty  thot 
would  demane  himself  by  seekin'  th'  society 
oov  ladies,  when  he's  had  a  drop."  With 
which,  he  went  peacefully  away,  to  carry  the 
news  to  the  tenants  on  the  floor  below,  leav 
ing  Belinda  with  a  racking  headache  and  no 
prospect  of  dinner,  while  the  furniture  was 
piled,  sharp  edges  out,  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor.  Then,  after  surveying  it,  she  broke 
down  and  wept,  just  like  an  ordinary  woman. 

"It  do  be  bachelor  gurrls  they  call  their- 
selves,"  the  janitor  informed  the  Very  Young 
Man,  who  answered  his  knock ;  "an'  it's  think- 
in'  oov  resoignin'  Oi'd  be,  if  it  wasn't  for  th' 
laving  oov  Musther  Tracy  an'  yoursel'.  Th' 
loocksmith  was  here  th'  afthernoon  puttin'  on 
exthra  fastenin's  t'  th'  dures,  an'  it's  a  doirect 
reflection  on  my  honesty,  it  is.  Th'  sofy 
pillows  is  piled  everywheres,  an'  it's  a  soight 
oov  bating  them  roogs  will  take.  Oi  con  get 
along  will  enough  wid  th'  ould  maids — loike 
Miss  Adams,  bless  'em — they're  paceable 
enough,  whin  they  don't  want  ye  t'  crawl  oonder 
J2 


And  the  Angel  Child 

th'  beds  t'  hoont  for  burglars,  an'  savin'  whin 
they  sees  moice  in  th'  rooms;  boot  how  this 
new  koind  '11  do,  Oi  dunno."  And  he  went 
away,  shaking  his  head  sadly. 

"Bachelor  girls,  is  it?"  sighed  the  Very 
Young  Man.  "Well,  they  won't  invite  us  to 
Sunday  evening  tea,  or  beg  us  to  help  them 
get  up  little  dances,  anyhow;  and  that's  one 
comfort.  Now,  I  don't  mind  acting  as  beater 
in  one  of  Miss  Adams'  grand  burglar  hunts, 
once  in  a  while,  because  that  is  exciting;  but 
I  shall  refuse  to  be  roused  from  my  rosy 
dreams  more  than  once  a  week,  to  go  down  to 
the  front  door  and  let  in  bachelor  girls  who 
have  gone  to  the  theater  alone  and  forgotten 
their  latch-keys.  Even  my  sweet  temper " 

"Your  sweet  what?"  came  a  drowsy  voice 
from  the  sofa. 

"Temper.  Did  you  think  I  said  'smile'? 
No,  even  my  sweet  temper  will  not  stand — 
Hello,  what's  that?" 

"Sounds  like  a  knock,  though  it  might  be 
a  ghostly  warning.  You  might  investigate 


and  find  out."  The  voice  was  drowsier  than 
ever. 

The  Very  Young  Man  threw  a  pillow,  with 
unerring  aim,  before  he  went  to  open  the  door. 
Just  as  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  knob,  a  sweet 
voice  called,  on  the  other  side  of  the  door. 

"Don't  be  afraid  to  open  it,  darling;  it  is 
only  me!  I  couldn't  get  here  sooner,  and — 
Oh,  my  goodness  gracious!"  For  the  door 
flew  open,  and  the  Very  Young  Man  stood  on 
the  threshold. 

"I — oh,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  my  stupid 
mistake,"  Dolly  faltered.  "I  was  looking  for 
Miss  Manly,  and  I  must  have  stopped  one 
flight  too  soon;"  and,  still  apologizing,  she 
faded  away  up  the  stairs. 

"When  you  are  quite  through  wagging  your 
head  at  vacancy,  dear  boy,  you  .might  come 
in,"  came  a  suave  voice  from  the  sofa;  "I  feel 
a  draught.  What  was  it?" 

"The  very  prettiest  girl  I  ever  saw  in  my 

life,"   the  Very  Young  Man   replied.     "Say, 

Tracy,  I — er — almost  met  Miss  Manly  at  Mrs. 

Smithson's  musical?  last  winter,  and  I'm  going 

J4 


And  the  Angel  Child 

up  to  see  what  I  can  do  for  them.  It's  a 
shame  for  Rafferty  to  neglect  new  tenants,  and 
acquaintances  of  mine,  too,  in  that  fashion; 
I'll  complain  to  the  agent,  if  he  does.  I'll 
be  back  in  half  an  hour;"  he  was  struggling 
into  his  coat,  as  he  spoke. 

"If  ever  I  speak  to  another  girl,  unneces 
sarily,  you  may  order  a  strait-jacket  for  me!" 
The  voice  was  evidently  quoting;  "and  fur 
thermore "  the  rest  of  the  speech  was  cut 

off  by  the  hurried  closing  of  a  door. 

"And  I  never  felt  so  foolish  in  my  life," 
finished  Dolly.  "What  do  you  suppose  he 
thought  of  me  for  calling  out  like  that?" 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  Belinda  replied, 
absently;  "it  doesn't  greatly  matter,  anyhow. 
Dolly,  this  alcove  is  three  inches  shorter  than 
the  old  one,  after  all.  How  shall  we  manage 
to  squeeze  the  couch  in?  Oh,  dear,  a  man  is 
useful  sometimes,  if  only  to  scold  when  things 
go  wrong.  Do  you  think  you  could  find  the 
janitor's  bell  ?" 

"That  must  be  him  now !"  Dolly  cried,  joy- 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Man 

fully.     "Do  you  know  how  to  get  this  door 
unfastened,  Belinda?" 

After  some  minutes,  spent  in  turning  the 
new  acquisition  alternately  to  the  right  and 
left,  the  door  sprung  open  unexpectedly,  re 
vealing  the  Very  Young  Man  on  the  thresh 
old. 

"I  was  passing  the  door,  and  as  I  remem 
bered  meeting  Miss  Manly  at  Mrs.  Smithson's 
musicale,  last  winter,  I  thought  I  would  step 
in  to  see  if  I  could  be  of  any  help,"  he  said. 
"My  name  is  Sweeting."  He  fixed  his  eyes 
resolutely  on  Belinda,  as  he  spoke,  pointedly 
refusing  to  see  Dolly's  blushes. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  remember  you,"  Belinda 
replied,  ungratefully;  "however,  I'd  be  glad 
to  see  any  able-bodied  man,  at  this  moment. 
If  you  will  help  us  to  move  a  few  of  these 
things,  I  shall  be  eternally  grateful,  as  soon  as 
ever  I  reach  my  normal  state  of  equanimity. 
I  think  the  chafing-dish  is  resting  under  that 
screen  and  on  the  portrait  of  my  great-great 
grandfather.  We  can  talk  of  Mrs.  Smith- 
son  while  you  work." 

16 


And  the  Angel  Child 

At  the  end  of  two  hours,  the  Very  Young 
Man  rested  from  his  labors,  and  wiped  the 
sweat  from  his  brow  with  a  handkerchief 
•which  he  had-  previously  used  to  dust  the 
carved  chair. 

"I  fear  that  I  must  run  away  now,"  he  re 
marked;  "my  friend  Tracy  and  I  are  going 
to  the  theater  this  evening,  and " 

"To-morrow  I  think  you  mean,"  Belinda 
said.  "It  is  ten  o'clock  now.  Well,  really, 
I  am  very  much  obliged  for  your  efforts  to  help 
us.  Of  course,  the  janitor  would  have  known 
how  to  set  up  the  couch  without  tipping  over 
the  screen,  and  he  would  probably  have  made 
fewer  indelible  scratches  on  the  mahogany 
table.  Still,  one  cannot  have  everything,  and 
I  know  that  you  have  tried  to  help  us." 

"Yes,  we  are  very  grateful,"  Dolly  said, 
speaking  for  the  first  time  within  the  hour. 
And  her  eyes  were  even  more  grateful  than  her 
tones. 

"Look  here,  Dolly  Watterson,"  Belinda 
cried,  when  the  door  closed  behind  the  Very 
Young  Man,  "I  have  moved  for  the  last 
J7 


The  Very  Young 

time  for  at  least  two  years.  I  signed  a  lease 
on  purpose,  so  I  couldn't;  and  if  you  let  that 
young  man  fall  in  love  with  you,  I — I'll  leave 
you  to  get  rid  of  him  yourself— there!"  And 
she  refused  to  say  another  word  on  the  sub 
ject,  although  Dolly  accused  her  of  lack  of  ap 
preciation  for  neighborly  kindness,  and  other 
crimes,  equally  base. 

Scarcely  was  this  little  tilt  over,  when  there 
came  a  nerve-racking  series  of  taps  and  tattoos 
on  the  door. 

"Who  is  it?"  Belinda  cried.  "No,  Dolly, 
I  will  not  have  you  open  it  until  I  know  who 
it  is.  What  if " 

"It's  Edward  Faversham  Wycoff,"  a  shrill 
voice  replied,  "and  I  want  to  get  in  this 
minute !" 

Again  the  fastenings  of  the  door  were  con 
quered  and  it  swung  open  to  admit  a  small  boy, 
with  an  angelic  countenance,  somewhat  marred 
by  traces  of  caramels;  he  was  attired  in  his 
night  garments  and  also  wore  a  heavenly 
smile. 

"Mamma  has  just  run  in  to  see  Miss  Adams 


And  the  Angel  Child 

for  a  minute,"  he  announced,  "and  I  came  down 
here  because  I  knew  I'd  have  plenty  of  time 
for  a  nice  visit  before  she  gets  back  and  misses 
me.  I  wanted  to  see  you  pretty  bad,  because 
I  guess  mamma  won't  let  me  or  papa  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  you.  I  heard  the  janitor  tell 
her  that  you  was  bachelors,  an'  she  often  tells 
papa  when  he  comes  home  at  night,  that  he 
has  to  give  up  them  bachelors  right  here  an' 
now.  They're  not  good  frien's  for  a  married 
man,  you  know.  Say,  do  you  sleep  in  that 
box?  An'  what  d'ye  do  with  all  them  sofa 
pillows?  guess  you  can  have  a  pillow-fight 
every  night,  like  papa  an'  I  do  when  mamma 
just  goes  out  for  a  skirt,  binding,  on  bargain 
days,  an'  never  gets  back  until  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening." 

Belinda  gasped:  "Stop  him,  Dolly,  or  he'll 
tell  us  his  entire  family  history!  I  feel  as  if 
I  had  been  listening  at  somebody's  door  ?" 

"Oh,  bless  you,  mamma  doesn't  mind,"  the 

Angel  Child  retorted.     "She  says  you  might 

as  well  live  in  a  glass  case  as  in  an  apartment 

house,  anyhow.     She  tells  papa  lots  of;  things 

19 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

that  happens  in  the  house,  at  dinner,  espe 
cially  when  he  says  the  meat's  tough,  or  she 
wants  him  to  take  her  to  the  theater." 

Belinda  wrung  her  hands :  "Look  here ;  do 
you  like  fruit  cake?"  she  asked.  "Yes,  Dolly, 
I  know  it's  bad  for  his  little  internal  economy, 
but  these  revelations  are  worse  for  our  morals." 

"Won't  youY  mamma  be  very  anxious  about 
you,  dear?"  Dolly  asked. 

"Oh,  she  won't  miss  me.  She's  gone  to 
ask  Miss  Adams  all  about  you.  I  heard  her 
tell  papa  that  she  hadn't  the  energy  to  collect 
the  information  at  first  hand,  so  she'd  ask  her, 
an'  what  she  didn't  know  wouldn't  be  no 
loss." 

Belinda  had  now  fished  out  the  cake  box 
from  between  the  cedar  chest  and  Dolly's  paint 
box.  She  pressed  a  huge  slice  into  the  willing 
hand  of  her  small  guest. 

"I'll  sit  on  your  lap  to  eat  it,"  he  said  to 
Dolly.  "Your  cheeks  are  awful  nice  an'  pink, 
I  guess  she's  better'n  you  are,  but  I  like  ^ou 
best," 

"Most  people  do,"  Belinda  murmured. 
20 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Solid  virtues  seem  to  weigh  little  in  the  scale 
against  pink  cheeks  and  fluffy  curls.  Never 
mind,  Dolly;  you  needn't  look  so  guilty.  If 
only  one  of  us  could  have  them,  I'd  rather  it 
was  you  than  me.  Mercy,  what's  that?" 

"It  sounds  like  mamma,"  calmly  replied  the 
Angel  Child;  "you  needn't  be  scared,  though. 
Papa  says  her  bark  is  worse  than  her  bite." 

"Yes,  he's  here,  all  safe!"  Belinda  called. 
"Dolly,  do  help  me  to  get  these  locks  opened. 
It  seems  to  me  that  I  had  better  apprentice 
myself  to  a  burglar,  before  I  have  any  more  of 
'em  put  on." 

This  time,  a  fluffy-haired  little  matron  stood 
on  the  threshold.  "I'm  sure  I  don't  know 
what  you'll  think  of  me,"  she  said.  "I  just 
ran  in  to  see  Miss  Adams  in  the  next  flat,  for 
a  moment,  and  Edward  ran  away.  I  don't 
know  what  I  ought  to  do  with  him." 

"But,  mamma,  you  didn't  tell  me  not  to 
come  down  here."  The  smile  was  rendered 
more  seraphic  by  the  fruit  cake. 

"How  should  I  ever  think  of  such  a  thing, 
when  you  were  in  bed,"  his  mother  groaned. 
2* 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"I've  been  all  over  the  building  hunting  for 
him,"  she  explained;  "and  only  came  here  as 
a  last  resort,  before  notifying  the  police." 

"Well,  you  might  as  well  come  here  first, 
after  this,  mamma.  One  of  'em  keeps  fruit 
cake  in  a  band  box,  an'  the  other  one  is  awful 
pretty.  I  don't  believe  they  are  the  kind  of 
bachelors  you  told  papa  to  let  alone,  in  future." 

"The  dear  little  fellow  seems  to  have  taken 
a  fancy  to  us,"  said  Dolly,  weakly,  in  the  aw 
ful  pause  which  fell  upon  them.  "I  am  glad, 
for  I  am  very  fond  of  children,  and  so  is 
Belinda." 

"Yes,  I'll  come  to  see  you  often,"  went  on 
the  Angel  Child,  in  calm  unconsciousness. 
"Do  you  like  to  play  fire?  Because,  if  you 
do,  I'll  climb  out  of  our  dining-room  window, 
an'  come  down  the  fire-escape,  callin'  'fire,'  an' 
you  can " 

"Edward  Faversham  Wycoff!"  cried  his 
mother,  "if  you  ever  let  me  catch  you  doing 
such  a  thing,  I'll " 

The  Angel  Child  freed  himself  from  Dolly, 
ran  to  his  mother  and  put  his  arms  about  her. 
22 


And  the  Ange2  Child 

'Then,  you  might  stop  me  by  buying  that 
police  patrol  wagon  I  want  so  bad — then,  I'll 
not  be  tempted,"  he  said,  coaxingly. 

"I'll  get  it  for  you  to-morrow,  if  you  promise 
never,  never  to  go  near  that  fire-escape,  until 
you're  twenty-one  years  old.  I  am  sure  I 
don't  know  what  you  will  think  of  me,"  she 
added,  turning  to  Belinda.  "I  am  really  very 
strict  with  him,  but — Well,  if  you  had  a  child 
like  him,  you'd " 

"Do  exactly  as  you  do,  no  doubt,"  promptly 
answered  Belinda.  "Must  you  go?" 

As  the  door  opened  for  the  egress  of  the 
guests,  an  elderly  man  passed  it. 

"Well,  young  gentleman,  in  trouble  again?" 
he  said,  cheerfully. 

"No,  he  isn't,  but  I  am,"  the  Matron  replied ; 
"think  of  choosing  this  hour  and  fashion  to 
call  upon  the  new  tenants,  when  I  had  a  new 
gown  and  a  delightful  anecdote,  all  ready  for 
the  occasion !" 

"Ah,  well,  Mrs.  Wycoff,  just  try  being  phil 
osophical  and " 

"Thank  you,  I  shall — the  very  next  time 
23 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Man 

that  any  one  else  is  in  trouble.  No  doubt,  I 
shall  find  it  very  consoling!"  was  the  retort. 
And  the  philosopher  went  chuckling  up  the 
stairs.  Miss  Adams  passed  him,  coming 
down,  a  weight  of  care  upon  her  brow. 

"Let  me  in,  girls,"  she  called,  through  the 
Keyhole.  "It's  late,  I  know ;  but  I  thought  I'd 
better  warn  you  that  your  doors  might  not  be 
securely  locked  and  you  would  be  on  your 
guard.  No,  don't  bother,  after  all,  to  undo 
the  bolts ;  I  can't  leave  my  flat  unprotected.  I 
only  wanted  to  tell  you  that  I  saw  a  strange 
man  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  to-day, 
looking  over  here  very  hard.  He  might  have 
been  planning  to  rob  and  murder  us  all  in  our 
beds  to-night,  for  aught  I  know.  Oh,  yes,  he 
was  respectable  enough,  in  appearance,  but  he 
might  be  all  the  more  dangerous  for  that. 
And  I  saw  a  very  rough  looking  person  carry 
ing  in  coal  for  the  janitor  to-day — who  knows 
what  he  may  have  been  up  to  in  the  cellar? 
Of  course,  I  don't  want  to  alarm  you,  but  an 
ounce  of  prevention,  you  know.  Well,  good 
night  and  pleasant  dreams. 
24 


And  the  Angel  Child 

Belinda  and  Dolly  looked  at  each  other, 
with  blanched  faces. 

"Oh,  Belinda,"  Dolly  cried,  "if  you  are 
murdered  the  very  first  night  after  moving 
on  my  account,  I  shall  never  forgive  myself 
while  I  live!" 

"N-never  mind,  I  am  not  afraid,"  Belinda 
said,  though  her  looks  belied  her;  "and,  any 
how,  dear,  I  doubt  if  they'd  kill  me  and  leave 
you  to  call  the  police.  Goodness,  another 
knock!  Who  is  it?"  she  called. 

"I  am  dot  yanitor's  wife,"  was  the  reply; 
"an'  I  cooms  oop  to  see  what  I  can  do  mit 
you." 

The  bolts  flew  open  this  time.  A  stout 
figure  and  a  friendly  face  filled  the  doorway. 

"Isn't  it  rather  late?"  Dolly  asked,  mildly. 

"Id  is,  put  I  sleeps  not  undil  I  finds  out  you 
vas  comfordables.  Dot  RafFerdy,  he  vos  a 
good  man,  put  he  vas  only  an  Irishman,  after 
all.  I  married  him  ven  I  vos  a  vidow,  an' 
lonesomes;  but  I  loogs  oud  for  de  velfares  of 
dose  tenands  meinselfs.  You  tell  me  ven  he 
does  his  duty  not,  an'  I  makes  him  do  it.  L 
25 


The  Very  Yoxing  Ma.n 

hear  dot  Irish  an'  Shermans  always  fights,  put 
I  say  to  dot  Rafferdy,  de  veek  afder  I  marries 
him,  Ven  ve  fights,  I  gets  de  pest  of  id,  not?' 
an'  afder  dot,  we  nefer  fighds  any  more." 

"That  must  be  very  nice  for  you,"  Belinda 
said,  seeing  that  Dolly  was  speechless. 

"Id  is  goot  for  Rafferdy,  too.  I  tells  him  so 
efery  day.  Are  you  comfordables  ?" 

"Not  very,"  Dolly  answered,  "Miss  Adams 
says  she  thinks  there  are  burglars  about,  and 
we  are  so  afraid  of  burglars." 

"You  needn'  pe  afraid  of  burglars  mit  me 
in  de  house ;  if  I  hears  you  screams,  I  cooms  oop 
an'  I  sends  dot  burglars  apout  deir  pusiness 
righd  off.  Are  you  married?" 

"I  am  not  married,"  Belinda  answered, 
firmly;  "we  are  both  bachelor  maids,  and  we 
are  proud  of  it." 

"Dot  is  vat  dot  Rafferdy  said.  Veil,  I  gitess 
id  is  all  righd  for  dose  vat  liges  id.  An  old 
maid  is  a  voman  dot  can't  ged  a  husband,  an' 
a  bachelor  maid  is  von  dot  doan  vant  von, 
eh?  Veil,  I  vill  tells  you  dis:  id  all  depends 
upon  de  husband.  Good-nighd.  I  cooms  oop 


And  the  Angel  Child 

in  de  mornings,  an'  helps  you,  an'  Rafferdy,  he 
cooms,  too." 

"Well,  I  never !"  Belinda  cried,  sinking  into 
a  chair.  "Fasten  the  door  carefully,  Dolly; 
I  haven't  the  strength  to  do  the  locks  justice, 
after  that." 

When  the  lights  were  out  and  Belinda  had 
ceased  to  smell  gas,  Dolly  was  aroused  from 
her  first  sleep,  by  a  punch  from  Belinda's 
elbow. 

"I  hear  some  one  in  the  hall.  Are  you  sure 
that  you  fastened  the  back  window?"  she 
breathed. 

"So  sure,  that  I  shall  not  get  up  and  look 
once  more,"  was  the  firm  reply.  And  turning 
over,  she  slept,  to  be  once  more  aroused  by  the 
sound  of  shattered  china,  as  Belinda,  return 
ing  from  a  tour  of  exploration,  miscalculated 
the  distance  between  the  improvised  couch  and 
the  table  on  which  was  piled  the  best  bric-a- 
brac  and  their  old  shoes,  which  the  movers 
had  thoughtfully  rescued  from  the  pile  of 
debris  in  the  kitchen  and  brought  along. 

"Well,  never  mind,"  Belinda  sighed;  "if  that 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

was  a  burglar,  the  noise  has  frightened  him 
away,  and  that  is  something.  Dolly,  has  it 
occurred  to  you  that  there  are  some  rather 
queer  people  in  this  building?" 

There  was  no  reply :  the  limit  of  Dolly's  en 
durance  was  reached.     She  slept. 


Chapter  II 

"GOOD-MORNING/'  said  the  Angel  Child, 
pleasantly.  "I  thought  perhaps  you'd  like  to 
have  me  come  an'  eat  breakfast  with  you." 

The  Very  Young  Man  looked  up  from  his 
paper,  in  surprise.  "Isn't  it  rather  early  for  a 
call?"  he  asked,  mildly. 

"Well,  I  s'pose  it  is;  but,  then,  breakfast 
always  is  early,  you  know.  I  had  to  come 
early  to  come  to  breakfast.  You  see,  I  broke 
mamma's  little  vase — the  one  that  stands  on  the 
table  in  the  parlor.  It's  so  ugly  that  I'm  afraid 
it's  very  valuable  indeed.  I  picked  up  all  the 
pieces  carefully,  and  then  I  thought  that  I'd 
better  not  be  there  when  she  found  it;  so  I 
thought  an'  thought,  an'  I  knew  you'd  be  glad 
t'  see  me,  so  I  came.  Shall  I  sit  here?" 

"But  how  did  you  get  in?"  asked  the  Very 
Young  Man.     "You  don't  ride  through  the  air 
on  an  enchanted  carpet,  do  you?" 
29 


The  Very  Young 

"We  haven't  an  enchanted  carpet.  I  guess 
mamma's  waiting  for  a  bargain  sale  to  buy 
one.  I  came  down  on  the  elevator  that  the 
ice  an'  things  comes  up  on.  I  didn't  want  t' 
come  out  th'  front  way,  because  mamma' d  see 
me.  I  just  got  out  in  your  kitchen,  an'  here 
I  am — it  was  very  easy.  Have  you  any  more 
of  that  orange  marmalade  I  like  so  much?" 

"Plenty  of  it.  Help  yourself,  old  man. 
But  won't  your  mother  be  uneasy  about  you?" 

"Yes,  I  s'pose  she'll  be  ter'ble  anxious;  but 
that's  all  the  better  for  me.  She'll  be  pretty 
mad  about  that  vase,  until  she  thinks  I'm  lost. 
Then  she'll  begin  t'  cry,  an'  say,  'What's  a 
mere  vase,  anyhow,  in  comparison  to  my  child  ?' 
It'll  be  time  fer  me  t'  go  home  then." 

"But  you  don't  want  your  mother  to  cry, 
do  you  ?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  replied  the  Angel 
Child,  calmly.  "Papa  says  he  guesses  it 
doesn't  hurt  ladies  to  cry.  I  know  we  went  t' 
th'  matinee  once,  an'  th'  lights  was  turned  low 
an'  th'  music  played,  an'  th'  little  boy  said, 
'Who  will  care  fer  us  now,  mother?'  An' 
30 


And  the  Angel  Child 

mamma  cried  awful ;  but  when  we  come  away, 
she  said,  'Oh,  wasn't  that  perfectly  beauti 
ful  !'  " 

"Seems  to  me,  that  you  are  an  incipient  phi 
losopher,  old  man,"  remarked  the  Very  Yoimg 
Man,  when  he,  too,  had  wiped  a  tear  away. 
"Have  some  more  orange  marmalade,  won't 
you?" 

"Thank  you ;  I've  had  some  more  while  you 
were  laughing.  I  can  see  the  bottom  of  the 
jar  now,  but  it  doesn't  really  matter,  because 
I've  eaten  almost  all  I  can." 

"Then,  perhaps  I'd  better  take  you  upstairs 
and  explain  to  your  mother  that  it  was  really 
an  accident  about  that  vase." 

"No,  thank  you.  She'd  laugh  while  you 
were  there,  but  you'd  have  t'  go  away  after 
awhile,  an'  I'd  be  left  with  her.  I  guess  I'll 
wait  a  little  longer.  Miss  Adams  has  been 
telling  her  how  I  should  be  brought  up,  an' 
she's  always  pretty  strict  fer  a  day  or  two 
after  that,  because  she  says  she  wants  t'  show 
that  old  maid  that  she  can  bring  up  a  child  as 
good  as  anybody.  Aren't  you  sorry  fer  young 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

people's  children,  Mr.  Sweeting?  Mr.  Hardy 
is ;  I  heard  him  tell  Mrs.  Rafferdy  so,  the  other 
day.  He  said,  'Well,  well,  everybody  must 
learn  by  experience,  an'  th'  only  wonder  is  that 
more  children  aren't  killed  by  th'  experiment.' 
He  gave  me  a  quarter  then,  so  I  guess  he  must 
mean  me.  I  like  people  that  gives  me  quarters. 
Dolly  gave  me  one  yesterday — do  you  know 
Dolly,  Mr.  Sweeting?" 

The  Very  Young  Man  turned  pink.  "I 
know  Miss  Watterson  slightly,"  he  said, 
gravely.  "I  think  it  would  be  more  proper  for 
you  to  call  her  'Miss  Dolly,"  though." 

"Oh,  Dolly  doesn't  mind — I  told  her  that 
I  was  going  t'  call  her  'Dolly,'  an'  she  jest 
laughed.  It  sounds  nice  when  Dolly  laughs. 
I  kissed  her,  when  I  come  away.  I  don't  like 
much  to  be  kissed,  but  I  don't  really  mind  when 
she  kisses  me." 

"Happy  youth,"  said  a  voice  behind  him; 
"they  kiss  us  when  we  don't  appreciate  it,  ^nd 
they  won't  kiss  us,  when  we  do !  Good  morn 
ing,  Master  Wycoff.  To  what  may  we  ascribe 
the  honor  of  this  early  visit?" 
32 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Oh,  it's  you,  is  it,  Mr.  Tracy?  I'm  afraid 
you  won't  find  any  marmalade  for  your  break 
fast;  I've  eaten  so  much  of  it,  that  I  might 
just  as  well  finish  it,  while  I'm  about  it.  I 
came  here,  because  I  was  afraid  mamma  an* 
I  would  have  a  little  unpleasantness  about  a 
vase  that  got  broke  while  I  was  looking  at  it." 

"A  little  unpleasantness,  eh?  What  do  you 
mean  by  a  little  unpleasantness?" 

"Well,  that's  what  papa  calls  it  when  mamma 
cries,  an'  says  she  wishes  she'd  a-known  when 
she  was  well  off — but  girls  never  does!  Did 
you  ever  have  anybody  talk  like  that  to  you, 
Mr.  Sweeting?" 

"No,  he  never  did,  and  he  never  will,"  put 
in  Mr.  Tracy,  promptly.  "You  see,  Master 
Wycoff,  Mr.  Sweeting  has  no  opinion  of  girls 
at  present.  He  never  means  to  speak  to  one, 
if  he  can  help  it,  while  he  lives.  Of  course, 
he  must  make  an  exception  when  one  of  them 
calls  him  /darling,'  through  a  door,  but " 

"Oh!"  the  Angel  Child  was  getting  beyond 
his  depth,  and  he  knew  it.  "Dolly  calls  me 
'darling,'  an'  I  don't  mind  it.  She  mustn't 
33 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

do  it  before  the  other  kids,  though.  They 
might  call  'darling'  after  me,  in  th'  street,  if 
she  did.  They  don't  seem  t'  like  my  hair, 
somehow.  I  hate  curls  myself,  but  mamma 
thinks  they're  sweet.  She  puts  up  her  hair 
at  night  in  funny  little  kid  things  that  she 
hides  in  a  drawer  in  th'  day.  An'  sometimes 
she  says  t'  the  other  ladies,  don't  they  pity 
women  that  hasn't  got  naturally  curly  hair? 
An'  they  always  say,  indeed  they  do.  I  guess 
I  must  have  said  something  pretty  funny, 
haven't  I?" 

"I  think  you  have,  old  man;  but  I  wouldn't 
repeat  it  to  your  mother,  if  I  were  you.  She 
mightn't  think  it  as  funny  as  we  do.  How  is 
your  father?"  the  Very  Young  Man  said. 

"I  guess  he's  pretty  well  this  morning, 
thank  you.  Aunt  Alice  an'  Mr.  Brownston 
came  t'  dinner  at  our  house  las'  night,  an' 
mamma  told  him  in  th'  morning  he'd  have  t' 
wear  evening  dress — that  funny  spike-tailed 
coat,  you  know.  Papa  said  he'd  rather  hang 
pictures  than  do  it,  but  mamma  cried  an'  Faid 
he'd  rather  do  anything  than  what  she  wanted 
34 


And  the  Angel  Child 

him  t'  do.  After  she'd  cried  awhile,  papa  put 
down  his  paper  an'  said,  'Oh,  well,  get  the 
thing  out,  an'  I'll  make  a  monkey  of  myself  in 
it!'  Then  mamma  said,  no,  she  didn't  want 
him  t'  wear  it,  if  he  didn't  want  t' ;  he  could 
be  jest  as  uncivilized  as  he  wanted  to ;  she  didn't 
care.  By  'n'  by,  papa  said  he'd  rather  wear  it 
than  anything  else,  an'  would  she  like  him 
t'  bring  some  roses  home  with  him  when  he 
came?  You  know,  Mr.  Brownston  is  going 
t'  marry  Aunt  Alice — at  least  if  he  isn't,  he 
ought  t'  be,  an'  papa  ought  really  t'  give  him 
a  hint.  Mamma  said  she  asked  him  t'  dinner 
t'  let  him  see  that  Aunt  Alice's  people  were  as 
good  as  his  ever  dared  to  be.  She  had  a  lot 
of  nice  things,  an'  she  told  me  I'd  have  t' 
wait,  nex'  time  there  was  company,  if  I  said 
anything  about  not  having  ice  cream  every 
day." 

"And  did  you  say  anything  about  it?"  asked 
the  Very  Young  Man,  after  he  had  caught 
his  breath. 

"No,  I  didn't.  I  did  one  pretty  bad  thing, 
though.  You  know,  mamma,  she  hasn't  any 
35 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

ice  cream  forks,  an'  Aunt  Alice  told  her  they 
always  use  'em  at  Mr.  Brownston's  house,  so 
mamma  borrowed  Miss  Adams'  for  th'  'casion. 
She  sent  me  down  after  'em,  in  the  afternoon, 
but  Miss  Adams  said  she'd  come  up  with  me 
an'  bring  'em.  She  was  afraid  I  might  drop 
some  of  'em  in  th'  hall.  After  Miss  Adams 
was  gone,  mamma  said  she  guessed  what  she 
was  afraid  of  was  that  she  wouldn't  know  just 
what  we  was  going  t'  have  fer  dinner." 

"And  did  she?"  enquired  Tracy,  gravely. 

"I  guess  she  did.  She  asked  mamma  if  she 
mightn't  go  into  the  kitchen  a  minute,  t'  see 
if  it  was  decorated  just  like  hers  was.  Mamma 
told  papa  that  she  didn't  mind,  anyhow,  for 
Miss  Adams  was  awful  good  that  time  T  had 
th'  croup,  an'  she  let  me  play  with  the  clock 
that's  on  th'  parlor  mantel  an'  doesn't  go.  I 
liked  the  dinner,  an'  I  told  Mr.  Brownston 
I  wished  him  an'  Aunt  Alice  would  come  an' 
take  dinner  with  us  every  day.  He  looked 
awful  queer,  when  I  said  that,  like  you  look 
when  something  has  gone  down  your  Sunday 
throat,  you  know.  Aunt  Alice  didn't  seem  t' 
36 


And  the  Angel  Child 

hear,  though  I  said  it  real  loud.  Mamma  got 
pink,  like  she  does  when  papa  tells  people  about 
her  bargains,  an'  said,  'Edward!'  When  she 
calls  me  'Baby,'  or  'Ned/  it's  all  right,  but 
when  she  says,  'Edward,'  like  that,  it's  better 
t'  mind,  an'  I  did.  The  ice  cream  was  good, 
but  we're  never  t'  have  any  more,  because  I 
said  to  mamma,  'Did  Miss  Adams  have  it  every 
day,  because  she  had  those  cute  little  forks  to 
eat  it  with.'  I'm  afraid  I'm  a  lot  of  trouble  to 
my  mother,  Mr.  Sweeting." 

"I'm  afraid  you  are,  old  man.  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  that  was  her  at  the  door  now.  Oh, 
it's  you,  is  it,  Rafferty?  Yes,  he's  here.  Is 
his  mother  very  anxious  about  him?" 

"She  is  thot,  sor.  She's  afther  saying  thot 
she'll  niver  see  her  choild  again,  an'  phen 
she  does,  she'll  give  him  something  thot'll  kape 
him  frim  running  away  for  wan  whoile." 

"Has  papa  gone  t'  th'  office,  Mr.  Rafferdy?" 
asked  the  Angel  Child,  with  some  anxiecy. 

"He  hos  thot.  Yez  haven't  annything  thot's 
good  for  a  pain  in  moi  soide,  hov  yez,  sor? 
Th'  rugs  thot  thim  young  ladies  hos,  do  be  th' 
37 


The  Very  Young  Man 

ould  bhoy  t'  shake,  an'  thot  wan  wid  th'  glasses, 
she's  th'  girrul  thot  can  see  a  spheck  av  dirt 
a  moile  off.  But  for  Musther  Tracy  an'  ye- 
self,  Oi'd  be  resoignin'  t'noight.  Thank  ye, 
sor;  th'  saint's  bed  in  Hivin,  an'  may  yez  be  a 
long  toime  going  to  it!"  And,  with  the 
pleasant  chink  of  coin  in  his  pocket,  he  melted 
away. 

"I  guess  I'd  belter  go  now,"  remarked  the 
Angel  Child,  thoughtfully.  "It'll  be  safe. 
When  mamma  says  she's  going  t'  punish  me, 
she  isn't  so  likely  t'  do  it.  It's  when  she 
doesn't  say  anything,  but  just  pulls  off  her  slip 
per,  that  I  get  it.  Well,  good-bye."  And 
he  went  his  placid  way. 

"Well,  I  suppose  you'll  be  reading  law  all 
day?"  said  Tracy,  as  he  struggled  into  his 
coat.  "I  envy  you;  I've  got  to  interview  a 
man  to-day  on  such  a  pleasant  topic,  that  I 
shall  probably  be  brought  home  in  an  ambu 
lance.  I'm  to  ask  him  how  a  man  feels  when 
he  marries  a  woman  he  thought  was  worth 
a  million,  and  finds  that  her  money  was  chiefly 
invested  in  castles  in  Spain.  The  newspaper 
38 


And  the  Angel  Child 

business  is  played  out,  I  tell  you.  I  mean  to 
drop  it  and  go  into  something  else,  right 
away." 

The  Very  Young  Man  smiled  cheerfully: 
"I've  heard  you  say  something  like  that  twice 
a  day,  when  it  wasn't  oftener,  for  two  years. 
I  guess  you'll  hold  on  awhile  longer.  Yes, 
I  shall  read  hard  all  day,  and  you  needn't  envy 
me." 

It  happened  that  on  his  way  to  his  desk,  he 
stopped  at  the  window.  There  he  stood,  in 
deep  thought  for  ten  minutes.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  he  said: 

"Oh,  hang  it,  I  will.  I  don't  believe  Raf- 
ferty  will  go  near  them,  and  I  heard  Miss 
Manly  tell  him  yesterday  that  she  wanted  the 
curtains  hung.  If  a  B.  A.  isn't  able  to  hang 
curtains,  I  don't  know  what  he  is  good  for! 
And  I'd  like  to  see  whether  her  eyes  are  gray 
or  blue,  by  daylight." 

"Oh,  it's  you,  is  it,  Mr.  Sweeting?"  Belinda 
sighed,  a  few  moments  later.  "I  hoped  it  was 
the  janitor." 

"I'm  sure  that  Miss  Manly  doesn't  mean  that 
39 


The  Very  Young 

she  isn't  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Sweeting," 
Dolly  came  to  the  rescue.  "You  see,  we  are 
rather  worried  about  our  curtains.  We  have 
been  here  five  days  now,  and  no  curtains  adorn 
our  windows  yet.  The  janitor  always  says 
he'll  hang  them  right  away,  but  he  goes  out 
for  a  step-ladder  or  a  screw-driver,  or  some 
thing,  and  doesn't  return.  When  we  go  down 
to  ask  about  it,  we  can  only  find  his  wife,  and 
she  asks  us  so  many  questions  about  our  affairs, 
that  we  come  away  without  having  properly 
stated  the  case." 

"Why,  how  very  odd,"  said  the  Very  Young 
Man,  mendaciously.  "I  like  nothing  better 
than  hanging  curtains,  and — er — as  I  am  an 
old  acquaintance  of  Miss  Manly,  I  dropped  in 
to  see  if  there  was  anything  I  could  do  for 
you." 

"Oh,  if  you  only  would,"  Dolly  sighed.  "I 
am  sure  that  you  could  do  it  much  better  than 
the  janitor,  anyhow — brains  will  tell,  you 
know." 

"At  any  rate,  he  can  try,"  said  Belinda, 
briskly.  "Since  you  know  so  much  about  it, 
40 


And  the  Angel  Child 

I  suppose  you  can  just  go  on  and  do  it  by  your 
self.  The  step-ladder  is  over  there  with  a  few 
things  on  it.  You  can  get  it  out,  -can't  you?" 

"Oh,  easily."  He  could  just  discern  its  out 
line.  "But  I — I  thought  if  Miss  Watterson 
would  just  sit  here  and  direct  me,  I  could  do 
better." 

"Dolly  is  busy  sewing  on  rings.  You  go 
on  with  the  curtain-hanging,  and  I  can  direct 
from  here.  Dear  me,  it  does  seem  that  it 
takes  us  a  great  while  to  get  fixed  up  here — 
longer  than  it  has  ever  done  before.  And 
we  have  moved  so  often.  That  is  the  bottom 
of  the  curtain,  Mr.  Sweeting,  not  the  top/' 

"Oh, — I — I  see.  So  you  have  moved  fre 
quently,  Miss  Manly?  I  suppose  you  are  hard 
to  please." 

"Miss  Dolly  is  rather  hard  to  please,  and 
that — I  believe  you  could  hang  them  better, 
if  you  put  one  on  each  side  of  the  window, 
Mr.  Sweeting." 

"I — Oh,  yes,  yes,  I  see  now.  There  arc  so 
many  ways  of  hanging  curtains,  you  know," 
he  was  surreptitiously  wiping  his  perspiring 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

brow.  "So  Miss  Watterson  is  hard  to  please, 
is  she?  Now,  suppose  you  tell  me,  for  in 
stance,  why  you  left  your  last  place."  He 
heroically  concealed  his  anguish  when  a  hidden 
pin  dug  itself  into  his  palm. 

"Well,  let  me  see.  I  believe  it  was  chiefly 
because  he  had  red  ears  and  large  hands,  wasn't 
it,  Dolly?  And  he  read  po " 

"Oh,  Belinda,  how  can  you!"  The  eyes 
were  certainly  blue,  and  there  was  a  big  tear 
in  each  of  them. 

"I  suppose  it  is  a  joke,  which  I  fail  to  un 
derstand,  Miss  Manly,"  said  the  Very  Young 
Man,  stiffly.  "It  seems  a  pity,  though,  to 
tease  a  person  who  is  of  so  acutely  sensitive  an 
organization." 

Belinda  groaned  inwardly,  "Oh,  what  a 
rfoose  I  am!  I  only  meant  to  give  him  a 
friendly  warning,  and  now  I  have  convinced 
l:im  that  I  am  cruel  to  her.  The  next  thing 
will  be  a  desire  to  protect  her — and  then  she 
will  be  begging  me  to  see  her  safely  out  of  the 
street  door  when  she  is  going  anywhere  alone! 
Why  should  a  girl  who  has  made  up  her  mind 
42 


And  the  Angel  Child 

not  to  marry  anybody,  have  such  eyes  and  such 
lashes?"  Aloud,  she  said,  "Oh,  yes,  it  was 
merely  a  silly  joke.  If  I  were  in  your  p'ace, 
Mr.  Sweeting,  I  should  choose  two  curtains 
which  match,  for  the  same  window.  The  one 
on  the  left,  belongs  in  the  next  room.  It 
seems  to  me,  that  as  an  expert  on  the  hanging 
of  curtains,  you  might  know  that." 

"I — er — I  have  always  hung  colored  curtains 
before,"  responded  the  Very  Young  Man,  as 
cheerfully  as  he  could.  "Perhaps  if  Miss  Wat- 
terson  has  finished  sewing  on  rings,  she 
might " 

"I'll  come  and  attend  to  it  myself,"  replied 
Belinda,  briskly;  "that  is  the  way  to  have  a 
thing  done  properly,  as  every  well-mannered 
copy-book  will  tell  you.  And  I  think  you  had 
better  take  them  both  down  and  begin  over 
again,  if  you  don't  mind,  Mr.  Sweeting." 

Dolly  raised  her  eyes  for  an  instant,  but 
there  was  sympathy  in  that  glance.  Yes,  they 
were  certainly  blue,  or  was  it  gray-blue?  It 
did  not  occur  to  the  Very  Young  Man  that  he 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

was  by  no  means  the  first  person  who  had  in 
terested  himself  in  the  question. 

"I  am  a  mere  cumberer  of  the  ground,"  re 
marked  Belinda,  after  a  long  pause.  "Really, 
Dolly,  there  is  no  adequate  reason  for  my  ex 
istence.  Henceforth,  I  mean  to  be  of  some  use 
in  the  world,  and  I " 

"Oh,  we  are  not  going  back  to  the  slum- 
visiting,  are  we?"  cried  Dolly,  apprehensively. 
"I  don't  believe  we  did  a  bit  of  good  when  we 
did  it.  And,  oh,  Mr.  Sweeting,  the  boys  were 
perfectly  horrid!  And  I  never  did  get  ac 
customed  to  going  into  other  people's  houses, 
without  an  invitation,  even  if  they  were  poor. 
I — I  don't  believe  that  very  poor  people  like  ad 
vice  any  better  than  any  one  else — there!" 

"Oh,  yes,  really,  I  would  not  do  slum-visit 
ing,  if  I  were  you,  Miss  Manly!"  cried  the 
Very  Young  Man,  fervently.  "You  know 
there  are  always  diseases  going  about  there. 
What  if  Miss  Watterson  caught  scarlet  fever, 
or  something  like  that?  And  you  might  catch 
it  yourself,  too,  you  know,"  he  added,  as  an 
afterthought. 

44 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Possibly,"  said  Belinda,  dryly.  "I  am  not 
aware  that  I  am  an  immune.  As  it  happened, 
however,  I  was  not  thinking  of  slum-visitmg. 
It  has  occurred  to  me  that  the  art  of  conversa 
tion  is  almost  extinct.  You  have  noticed  it, 
have  you  not?" 

"Well,  er — I  went  to  an  afternoon  tea  the 
other  day,  and " 

"I  did  not  say  'talk/  "  said  Belinda,  stiffly; 
"I  said  'conversation.'  It  seems  to  me,  that 
the  person  who  causes  two  epigrams  to  be 
made,  where  only  one  had  existed  before, 
would  be  a  benefactor  to  the  human  race. 
Dolly,  I  think  I  shall  establish  a  salon/' 

"How  very  nice  of  you,  dear,"  replied  Dolly, 
dutifully,  "but,  oh,  Belinda,  I  never  made  an 
epigram  in  my  life !" 

"Oh,  well,  the  conversation  will  not  be  all 
epigrams,  you  know.  Of  course,  a  salon 
would  be  rather  a  different  matter  now,  from 
what  it  was  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
might  even  be  a  good  deal  like  a  regular  'day' 
— only  no  one  would  say,  'How  very  sweet  of 


45 


The  Very  Young  Msxn 

you  to  come,'  and — and  things  like  that,  you 
know." 

"I — er — no  doubt,"  replied  the  Very  Young 
Man,  vaguely;  "I  suppose  you  would  consent 
to  take  an  apprentice  or  two  in  the  art  of  con 
versation,  Miss  Manly?  Perhaps  in  time,  Miss 
Watterson  and  I  might  learn  to  make  brilliant 
impromptu  speeches,  with  as  little  preparation 
as  any  one." 

"Perhaps,"  said  Belinda,  absently.  "I  shall 
ask  Mr.  Tracy  to  come,  Dolly ;  newspaper  men 
are  so  brilliant,  aren't  they?" 

"Oh,  yes,  always,"  replied  Dolly,  dutifully. 

"Oh,  now,  you  know,  Miss  Watterson,  Tracy 
is  all  sorts  of  a  good  fellow,  but  he  isn't 
brilliant.  I  wouldn't  be  a  friend  of  his,  if  I 
let  you  think  that.  And  he — he  isn't  very 
fond  of  the  socoety  of  young  ladies,  either." 

"So  much  the  better,"  cried  Belinda, 
blithely ;  "we  are  not  mere  young  ladies ;  we  are 
bachelor  girls,  with  no  nonsense  about  us.  I 
shall  certainly  ask  Mr.  Tracy.  Then,  there 
is  Mr.  Hardy,  who  lives  on  the  fifth  floor.  As 
soon  as  Miss,  Adams  introduced  him  to  us,  I 
46 


And  the  Angel  Child 

felt  that  he  would  be  an  acquisition;  he  is  a 
person  about  whom  there  is  no  nonsense  at  all. 
I  was  struck  by  the  sensible  way  in  which  he 
talked  to  you,  Dolly.  Then,  of  course,  there 
is  Miss  Adams.  She  is  reading  a  book  on  the 
salons  of  famous  women  now,  on  purpose.  Of 
course,"  she  added,  modestly,  "we  shall  not 
expect  to  become  a  factor  in  politics  or — or 
anything  like  that;  but  we  shall,  I  hope,  prove 
that  there  are  women  with  brains  and  tact  to 
day,  as  well  as  in  the  past.  Then,  there  is  Mrs. 
Wycoff,  and  her  husband,  too.  He  can  make 
as  good  a  rarebit  as  I  ever  tasted,  and  a  person 
who  can  make  a  good  rarebit,  can  do  anything. 
I  shall  ask  Mae  and  Evelyn,  too,  Dolly ;  it  may 
benefit  them.  Oh,  dear,  there  is  some  one  at 
the  door !  Hold  that  fold  just  as  it  is,  until  I 
come  back,  Mr.  Sweeting,  please." 

The  Very  Young  Man  sat  down  on  the  top 
of  the  step-ladder,  with  the  folds  held  care 
fully  in  his  hand.  He  had  been  wishing  that 
Miss  Manly  would  go  away  and  let  him  talk 
to  Dolly,  and  now  that  the  thing  had  actually 


47 


The  Very  Young  Man 

happened,  he  could  not  think  of  a  thing  to  say. 
And  Dolly  sat  demurely  sewing. 

"Miss  Watterson,"  he  said,  suddenly,  "do 

you "  The  eyes  were  gray,  after  all;  it 

was  the  blackness  of  the  lashes  which  made 
them  some  times  seem  blue !  They  were  look 
ing  curiously  at  him  now.  "Do  you  like  hay- 
rides?"  he  finished,  lamely. 

"Do  I  like  what?"  Dolly  asked,  as  if  suspi 
cious  of  his  sanity. 

"Hay-rides."  He  felt  the  blood  mount  to 
his  forehead.  "In — in  summer,  you  know. 
Lots  of  people  do." 

"No  doubt.  I  have  never  tried  one  myself, 
so  I  can't  say.  Why,  here  is  Edward !  Where 
did  you  come  from,  darling?" 

"I  came  in,  while  Miss  Manly  was  talking 
to  Mrs.  Rafferdy  in  the  hall.  I  am  going  out 
with  mamma,  because  she  is  afraid  to  trust  me 
out  of  her  sight.  She  has  gone  back  now  to 
see  if  she  locked  the  dining-room  window,  for 
sure.  Why,  Mr.  Sweeting,  what  are  you 
doing  here?  Mr.  Tracy  said  you  never  meant 
to  speak  to  a  girl  again,  unless  she  called  vou 
48 


And  the  Angel  Child 

'darling/  through  a  door!     Did  you  do  that, 
Dolly?" 

And  before  either  Dolly  or  the  Very  Young 
Man  could  frame  adequate  reply,  the  Angel 
Child  had  responded  to  an  imperative  call  from 
the  stairs.  The  eyes  were  bent  upon  the  work 
now,  and  the  ear  over  which  two  tiny  curls 
hovered  so  distractingly,  was  very  pink  indeed. 
The  next  moment,  Belinda  was  in  the  room. 
"Don't  let  me  keep  you  any  longer,  Mr.  Sweet 
ing,"  she  said.  "Mrs.  Rafferty  has  promised 
to  send  her  husband  up  at  once,  and  I  have 
decided  to  take  down  those  curtains  and  put 
them  in  the  other  room.  It  was  very  good  of 
you  to  try  to  help  us,  I  am  sure ;  but  you  must 
.have  work  to  do,  and  I  must  not  keep  you  any 
longer.  Why,  Dolly  Watterson,  your  face  is 
scarlet,  and  you  do  look  so  queer.  I  believe 
you  have  a  fever,  this  very  minute!  She 
looks  as  if  she  had,  doesn't  she,  Mr.  Sweet- 
ing?" 

"I — I  am  quite  well,  dear,"  faltered  Dolly. 
"But  I  am  afraid  that  Mr.  Sweeting  will  think 
us  rather  ungrateful,  won't  he?" 
49 


The  Very  Young  MQLI\ 

"Oh,  not  at  all,  not  at  all !"  cried  the  Very 
Young  Man,  so  fervently  that  his  conscience 
must  have  given  him  a  twinge.  "You — you 
are  quite  sure  that  there  is  nothing  more  I  can 
do  for  you?" 

"You  may  come  to  the  salon,  if  you  like," 
Belinda  answered,  with  more  cordiality  than 
she  had  shown  before.  "He  is  sure  to  like 
Evelyn,  is  he  not,  Dolly?" 

When  the  door  had  closed  behind  the  guest, 
Belinda  stood,  thoughtful. 

"After  all,  he  is  not  a  bad  sort  of  a  person, 
is  he?"  she  said;  "he  didn't  seem  to  have  much 
to  say,  when  I  was  out  of  the  room,  did  he? 
He  was  looking  bored  when  I  came  back.  I 
am  glad  that  I  asked  him  to  come  to  the  salon. 
He  and  Evelyn  will  get  on  finely,  I  am  sure. 
I  shall  tell  her  all  about  him  to-day." 

The  Very  Young  Man  went  soberly  down 
the  stairs.  He  read  very  hard  indeed  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
he  spoke,  with  his  eyes  still  on  the  page  be 
fore  him. 

"If  I  had  that  little  wretch  here,  I'd  half 
50 


And  the  Angel  Child 

kill  him!"  he  said;  then  he  added,  inconse- 
quently,  "And  Miss  Manly  need  not  be  uneasy 
— I  shall  not  give  her  too  much  of  my  society ! 
I  shall  limit  my  acquaintance  to  an  occasional 
formal  call,  in  future." 

About  half  an  hour  later,  he  said  suddenly : 
"Well,  I  shall  go  just  once,  anyhow ;  merely 
to  let  her  see  that  I  am   not   the   idiot   I  ap 
peared  this  morning!"     It  is  probable  that  the 
last  remark  had  no  reference  to  Belinda. 


Chapter  III 

"THERE  is  no  freedom  like  unto  that  of  the 
bachelor  girl,"  observed  Belinda,  as  she  went 
about  the  room  moving  chairs  and  settling 
sofa  pillows.  "Now,  if  we  had  husbands,  they 
would  always  want  to  sit  in  the  chimney- 
corner,  when  we  wished  to  go  out,  or  in  the 
seat  of  the  scornful  when  we  wanted  to  enter 
tain  guests.  We  could  have  no  salon,  if  we 
were  married,  Dolly." 

"But,  then,  nobody  would  much  care  to 
come  to  it,  if  we  were  old  maids,  would  they?" 
queried  Dolly.  "Belinda,  I — I  wonder  if  we 
shall  be  old  maids  by  and  by?" 

Belinda  made  no  immediate  reply;  she  had 
gone  instead  to  answer  a  knock  at  the  door. 

The  Matron  and  the  Philosopher  stood,  smil 
ing,  on  the  threshold. 

"We  have  come  for  a  cup  of  tea  and  an 
53 


The  Very  Young 

epigram,"  said  the  lady.  "I  like  lemon  in  the 
former  and  spice  in  the  latter,  if  you  please." 

"Is  that  quite  fair?"  demanded  the  Phi 
losopher.  "My  own  idea  of  the  salon  is,  that 
it  is  a  sort  of  a  literary  basket-party.  The 
hostess,  in  this  case,  is  evidently  prepared  to 
furnish  the  tea;  therefore,  I  consider  it  but 
right  that  we  bring  our  own  epigrams.  But 
you  look  thoughtful,  Miss  Watterson.  Are 
you 'uneasy  lest  you  forget  a  carefully  prepared 
impromptu  speech?  Or  are  you  merely  re 
signed  to  the  necessity  of  listening  to  speeches 
which  appear  brilliant  to  their  makers?" 

"Neither.  I — I  was  wondering  whether 
bachelor  girls  become  old  maids,  when — 
when  they  no  longer  seem  young,  even  to  them 
selves  !" 

"Or  their  elder  sisters?  My  dear  young 
lady,  I  should  define  the  bachelor  girl  as  a  fe 
male  who  refused  to  marry,  and  an  old  maid 
as  one  who  would  cheerfully  accept  anything 
rather  than  her  own  fate.  The  old  maid  may, 
therefore,  become  a  bachelor  girl;  but  the 
bachelor  girl  can  never  become  an  old  maid." 
54 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Oh!"  said  Dolly.  "Well,  I  must  say  that 
it  is  much  pleasanter  to  be  a  bachelor  girl  than 
an  old  maid.  But,  Mr.  Hardy,  if  the  masculine 
bachelor  is,  as  he  says,  the  happiest  of  human 
beings,  why  is  he  usually  so  cynical  about 
everything?" 

"H'm — I  can  only  suppose  that  since  cyni 
cism  is  the  reverse  of  socialism,  and  matri 
mony  is  practical  socialism,  he  is  merely  vindi 
cating  his  own  opinion." 

"Ah,  if  the  most  of  us  cultivated  our  morals 
as  carefully  as  we  do  our  opinions,  the  world 
would  need  fewer  reformatories,"  sighed  the 
Matron.  "Well,  I  have  noticed  one  similar 
ity  between  the  bachelor  and  the  old  m.iid: 
he  may  be  selfish  in  most  things,  but  he  is 
quite  willing  to  have  his  birthdays  five  years 
apart." 

"While  the  married  man  delegates  that  privi 
lege  to  his  wife.  After  all,  I  doubt  if  any 
one  over  thirty  and  under  ninety  really  enjoys 
a  birthday." 

"Unless  he  is  in  receipt  of  a  pension,"  ob 
served  Tracy,  who  had  just  entered.  "But, 
55 


The  Very  Yoving  Ma.i\ 

really,  since  we  are  not  quarreling,  I  see  no 
reason  why  we  should  mention  birthdays  at 
all." 

"We  were  speaking  of  bachelor  girls,  I 
think,"  smiled  the  Matron.  "I  suppose  the 
connection  was  the  fact  that  they  do  allow 
themselves  birthdays — in  moderation." 

"Well,  for  my  part,  I  had  as  lief  have  a  per 
sonal  birthday  as  to  buy  a  thing  I  really  want 
myself  and  present  it,  as  a  consolation  prize  to 
some  one  else,"  sighed  Evelyn  Whiting. 

"Ah,  that  is  one  advantage  of  having  a  hus 
band,"  said  the  Matron,  cheerfully.  "You 
can  give  him  the  thing  you  want,  and  then  take 
care  of  it  for  him." 

"And  your  maiden  aunt  is  sure  to  remind  you 
of  your  birthday,  anyhow,"  said  Mae  Blossom. 
"Well,  all  things  have  some  good  in  them,  I 
suppose.  I  know  of  nothing  so  well  calcu 
lated  to  console  one  for  the  fact  that  her  pil 
grimage  is  well  nigh  over,  as  the  gift  of  a 
maiden  aunt." 

"I    once    knew  a    woman    who — well,  ab- 


56 


And  the  Angel  Child 

stracted  a  few  years  when  her  husband  asked 
her  exact  age,"  began  the  Matron. 

"Did  you  ever  know  one  who  did  not?" 
queried  Evelyn. 

"And  he  gave  her  a  string  of  pearls,  ss  a 
birthday  present,"  went  on  the  Matron,  not 
heeding  the  interruption;  "one  pearl  for  each 
year,  you  know.  The  string  would  have  been 
exactly  the  right  length  if  she  had  told  him 
the  truth.  As  it  was,  she  had  to  take  her  own 
money  and  buy  the  rest  of  them." 

"Husbands  are  not  usually  so  willing  to  take 
their  wives  at  their  word,"  remarked  Mae. 

"Especially  when  it  is  the  last  one,"  hinted 
Tracy. 

"Well,  I  suppose  that  even  bachelor  girls 
have  their  own  troubles,"  observed  the  Matron. 
"Why,  think  of  it,  there  is  really  no  one  to 
blame  when  things  go  wrong !" 

"Oh,  yes;  there  is  usually  the  janitor,"  re 
plied  Belinda.  "You  can  say  a  good  deal  to 
the  janitor  if  the  agent  is  assured  of  your 
financial  reliability." 

"I  suppose  that  one  might  occasionally  be 
57 


The  Very  Young 

tempted  to  pity  the  lot  of  the  janitor — if  one 
had  never  lived  in  an  apartment  building," 
sighed  Tracy.  "As  it  is,  we  need  our  pity 
for  ourselves.  If  we  sometimes  make  things 
hot  for  him,  he  in  turn  makes  it  very  cold  for 
us." 

"The  pleasantest  apartment  building  I  ever 
lived  in,  was  tenanted  by  fourteen  bachelor 
girls,"  said  Belinda.  "There  was  one  draw 
back,  however,"  she  added;  "the  janitor  was 
changed  so  often  that  we  never  got  within  two 
names  of  his  own  when  we  addressed  the  latest 
official." 

"Well,  I  know  one  thing;  I  should  not  like 
to  be  the  wife  of  a  janitor,"  said  the  Matron, 
suddenly.  "Of  course  the  average  man  re 
quires  a  great  deal  of  keeping  in  order;  but 
I  never  yet  knew  a  woman  who  wanted  any 
assistance  in  the  work." 

"Or  tolerated  it,  when  offered,"  responded 
Tracy. 

"True,"  agreed  the  Matron.  "Why,  Ed 
ward,  what  are  you  doing  here?  I  thought 

I  told  you " 

5S 


And  the  Angel  Child 

'I  guess  you  did,  mamma,"  said  the  Angel 
Child,  who  had  suddenly  appeared  upon  the 
scene ;  "but  you  told  me  so  many  other  things, 
too,  that  I  forgot  them  all.  That's  what  papa 
says,  you  know,  when  you  tell  him  to  order  meat 
an'  embroidery  silks,  on  the  same  day.  Is  that 
pound  cake,  in  the  plate  behind  the  teapot, 
Dolly?  Yes,  I  think  I  could  eat  some  of  it. 
I  have  been  to  see  Mr.  Sweeting,  but  he  didn't 
offer  me  anything  nice.  He'll  be  up  in  a  little 
while,  I  think,  Dolly.  He's  trying  to  find  a 
collar  that  really  suits  him,  and  I  got  tired  of 
waiting,  and  came  on  ahead.  I  hope  you  will 
excuse  me  for  sitting  with  my  back  to  you, 
mamma.  I'd  rather  not  see  you,  when  you 
motion  to  me  that  I've  had  enough  cake. 
Somehow,  we  don't  agree  upon  some  subjects, 
you  know,  and  papa  says,  when  that's  the  case, 
it  is  better  t'  agree  t'  disagree.  Why,  there 
is  Mr.  Tracy!  I  wasn't  sure  but  that  he  had 
gone  t'  see  somebody  that  Mr.  Sweeting  doesn't 
like.  He  said  that  he  never  in  his  life  saw  a 
man  that  was  so  easily  flattered  by  a  word 
from  a  pretty  girl.  Do  you  flatter,  Dolly?  I 
59 


The  Very  Young 

suppose  you  do,  because  you  are  the  prettiest 
one  that's  here,  and  Miss  Adams  is — Why  are 
you  pulling  at  my  sleeve,  mamma?" 

"In  my  childhood,  children  were  seen — not 
heard,"  observed  Miss  Adams,  in  a  judicial 
tone.  "Little  boys " 

"I  guess  things  have  changed  a  good  deal, 
since  you  were  a  child,  Miss  Adams,"  said  the 
Angel  Child,  sweetly.  "Papa  says  that  they 
have  had  time  to  change.  Why,  what  is  the 
matter  now,  mamma?  I  guess  papa  must  be 
right  when  he  says  he  hopes  there  will  be 
something  good  to  eat,  when  he  goes  out  with 
you.  He  says  you  won't  let  him  open  his 
mouth,  except  to  put  something  in  it.  Oh, 
dear,  have  I  done  something  perfec'ly  awful 
again?  I  s'pose  you'd  better  try  t'  bring  me 
up  as  Miss  Adams  wants  you  to — I  don't  seem 
t'  be  a  credit  t'  you,  as  it  is.  Why,  here  is  Mr. 
Sweeting !  I  thought  maybe  you  cou^ln't  find 
a  collar  t'  suit  you,  after  all,  and  were  not 
coming.  He's  only  going  t'  stay  a  little  while, 
Miss  Manly;  he  says  he  supposes  you  merely 
want  him  t'  talk  to  the  frumps,  while  th'  rest  of 
60 


And  the  Angel  Child 

you  listen  to  Mr.  Tracy's  epigrams.  What  is 
an  epigram,  Mr.  Tracy?" 

"An  epigram,  Master  Wycoff,  is  a  clever 
thing,  when  you  have  made  it  yourself,  and 
an  awful  bore  when  somebody  else  has  thought 
of  it  first.  Take  my  advice,  and  never,  never 
make  one,  if  you  wish  to  retain  one  friend, 
rather  than  a  number  of  acquaintances." 

"The  epigram  marks  the  first  downward 
step  on  the  path  which  leads  to  continuous 
afternoon  teas,"  remarked  the  Philosopher; 
"but  is  it  not  remarkable  how  long  one  will 
last?  Not  so  long  as  an  anecdote,  it  is  true, 
but,  carefully  preserved,  I  have  known  one  to 
be  the  sole  conversational  dependence  of  a 
good  looking  man,  for  an  entire  season.  The 
shortness  of  other  people's  memories  for  wit 
not  their  own,  is  the  greatest  protection  your 
brilliant  conversationalist  can  have." 

"When  in  doubt,  repeat  your  epigram,  eh?" 
said  the  Matron. 

"Mayn't  I  help  you  a  little,  Miss  Watter- 
son?"  asked  the  Very  Young  Man.  "I  think 
there  is  a  neat  thing  concerning  reigning  and 


The  Very  Young 

pouring,  somewhere  in  the  back  of  my  mind; 
but  it  doesn't  seem  to  adjust  itself  to  the  situa 
tion,  so  I  might  lift  the  kettle  or  something 
for  you,  instead  of  paying  you  tactful  com 
pliments.  Sometimes,  I  fear  that  my  brains 
are  very  primitive  indeed.  Has  it  been  like  this 
all  the  time?" 

"Oh,  quite.  Sometimes  I  have  been  dread 
fully  afraid  that  I'd  have  to  answer  some  of 
them;  but  they  didn't  wait  long  enough  for 
me  to  think  of  the  proper  thing." 

"Don't  you  ever  make  such  a  mistake,  Miss 
Watterson.  Your  clever  person  prefers  to 
answer  himself;  just  as  a  professional  benuty 
had  rather  see  herself  in  the  mirror,  than  an 
other  beauty  in  the  flesh.  I  am  told  that  the 
class  in  conversation  is  a  fad,  nowadays.  It 
seems  to  me  that  if  people  really  wish  to  make 
themselves  popular,  they  will  take  lessons  in 
listening,  instead." 

"Oh,  but  listening  comes  very  easy,  indeed, 
when  you  happen  to  live  with  a  very  clever 
person,  Mr.  Sweeting." 

"It  does,"  sighed  the  Very  Young  Man. 
62 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"I  assure  you  that  since  I  have  been  with 
Tracy,  my  own  voice  only  sounds  natural  to 
me  in  monosyllables.  But  for  the  janitor,  I 
might,  in  time,  forget  articulate  speech;  and 
then,  no  doubt,  I  would  become  a  very  popular 
person  among  clever  conversationalists." 

"Oh,  speaking  of  Mr.  Rafferty,  how  is  the 
misery  in  his  side?"  asked  Dolly.  "I  haven't 
seen  him  to-day,  and  I  am  anxious  to  know 
if  the  new  medicine  did  him  any  good." 

"He  says  that  he  got  well  so  soon  after  be 
ginning  to  take  it,  that  he  doesn't  know,  not 
having  given  it  a  fair  trial." 

"Look  at  Dolly;  she's  laughing!"  cried  the 
Angel  Child.  "She  hasn't  laughed  once,  since 
I  came  in;  only  smiled,  like  you  do,  mamma, 
when  papa's  friends  come  to  see  him  and  say 
things  that  make  him  laugh  so  hard,  and  then, 
when  they  are  gone,  you  say,  'What  on  earth 
did  you  see  funny  in  that  man's  stories?' 
Don't  you  like  Mr.  Tracy's  epigrams,  Dolly?" 

"Sweet  child,"  murmured  Tracy,  to  Evelyn ; 
"what  a  pity  that  only  the  good  die  young !" 

"Well,  luckily,  apartment  buildings  are  not 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Ma.n 

like  Noah's  ark,  in  one  respect,  Mr.  Tracy ;  the 
specimens  are  not  two  of  a  kind.  Think  how 
much  worse  it  would  be  if  he  were  twins. 
There  is  nothing  so  bad  that  it  might  not  be 
worse,  except  your  own  troubles,  to  be  sure. 
Now,  I  live  in  the  house  with  a  future  prima 
donna.  The  dear  girl,  her  mother,  and  her 
teacher  are  very  sure  of  her  future.  Her 
mother  often  tells  us  that  we  will  some  day 
have  to  pay  fabulous  sums  for  tickets  to  hear 
her  sing." 

"And  shall  you  do  it?" 

"Perhaps.  One  can  always  talk  at  a  con 
cert,  you  know.  To  be  sure,  I  am  taking  elo 
cution  lessons,  myself;  but,  then,  I  never  prac 
tise  more  than  six  hours  a  day,  so  that  is  a 
very  different  matter.  I  think  one  should  al 
ways  consider  the  other  people  who  live  in  the 
house,  don't  you?  I  do,  and  for  that  reason 
I  often  practice  late  at  night,  after  they  are  in 
bed,  or  early  in  the  morning,  before  they  are 
up.  I  can't  say  that  they  appreciate  my  for 
bearance,  however.  Still,  my  own  approving 
conscience  is  sufficient  reward." 
64 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"It  is  quite  enough  for  most  people  who  in 
habit  apartment  or  boarding-houses,"  smiled 
Tracy. 

"I  suppose  so.  I  am  quite  sure,  at  any  rate, 
that  none  of  my  neighbors  have  ever  heard 
me  recite,  for  when  I  did  scenes  from  'Romeo 
and  Juliet,'  and  recited  'The  Goblins  '11  Git 
You,'  and  'Curfew/  for  a  charity,  not  long 
ago,  none  of  them  would  even  buy  a  ticket. 
Wasn't  it  horrid  of  them?" 

"I  know  a  woman  who  lives  in  the  apart 
ment  house  with  her  own  mother-in-law,"  said 
the  Matron,  gloomily.  "Life  is  worth  so  lit 
tle  to  her  that  she  eats  rarebit,  made  by  an 
amateur,  at  midnight  and  goes  home  smil- 
ing." 

"All  the  world  loathes  a  mother-in-law," 
mused  the  Philosopher.  "I  suppose  that  there 
must  be  mothers-in-law  who  are  not  family 
villains " 

"Just  as  there  are  poor  and  honest  plum 
bers,"  suggested  Tracy. 

"And  polite  ticket  sellers,"  added  Miss 
Adams. 

65 


The  Very  Yoxing  Ma.n 

"And  fairies  and  brownies,"  said  the  Angel 
Child,  thoughtfully.  "Dear  me,  I  guess  I 
must  be  what  papa  calls  an  unconscious  hu 
morist,  because  everybody  laughs  when  I  say 
things.  Everybody,  that  is,  but  the  people  I 
say  them  to,  and  I  suppose  they  think  it  isn't 
polite  to  laugh." 

"Exactly,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  Tracy. 
"The  majority  of  us  had  rather  laugh  at  others 
than  with  them,  you  know." 

"By  the  way,"  said  Evelyn,  suddenly,  "have 
you  ever  noticed  that  the  person  who  wears 
flat-heeled,  thick-soled  shoes  always  has  a 
sense  of  humor?" 

"While  the  one  who  wears  high-heeled, 
paper-soled  ones,  has  none?"  said  the  Matron. 
"H'm — yes,  I  suppose  that  is  what  might  be 
called  cause  and  effect.  Ah,  well,  I  am  sure 
that  if  I  had  not  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  I 
should  be  coldly  furnishing  forth  an  epitaph  at 
this  moment.  You  see,  my  husband  fell  in 
love  with  my  dimpled  hands,  and  then,  when 
we  were  married,  he  was  astonished  that  I 
could  neither  cook  nor  sew !" 
66 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Man  is  an  illogical  beast,  anyhow  you  put 
it,"  observed  the  Philosopher.  "I've  known  a 
man  to  marry  a  girl  because  she  was  a  flirt,  and 
then  divorce  her  for  the  same  reason." 

"True.  Well,  he  talked  so  much  of  his 
mother's  industry,  that  I  decided  to  emulate 
it." 

"So  you  learned  to  cook  and  sew,  did  you?" 
asked  Belinda. 

"I — I  tried,  dear.  Finally,  just  as  I  was 
developing  the  utmost  originality  in  the  culi 
nary  line,  my  husband  begged  me  to  give 
it  up.  He — he  said  that  he  didn't  believe  that 
Lucretia  Borgia  used  secret  poisons  at  all.  He 
was  sure  that  she  was  merely  learning  to  cook, 
when  all  her  friends  died  so  suddenly." 

"And,  then  you  made  him  a  dressing  gown, 
didn't  you?"  queried  the  Philosopher,  with  a 
far-away  look  in  his  eyes. 

"Why,  yes.  I  did.  How  did  you  guess 
that?" 

"In  all  marriages  there  is  what  might  be 
termed  the  Stone  Age,  which  is  the  stage  at 
which  the  young  husband  asks  for  bread  and 
67 


The  Very  Young  Ma.ni 

receives — an  amateur  biscuit.  The  Age  of 
Iron — in  his  soul — comes  when  he  must  ac 
tually  wear  a  garment  made  by  the  partner 
of  his  griefs.  But,  then,  a  dressing  gown  need 
not  really  fit,  you  know,"  he  added  sooth 
ingly. 

"Harold  thought  otherwise.  He  offered  to 
— to  wear  it  all  through  Lent.  That  made  me 
so  angry  that  I  promptly  sold  it  to  the  ragman, 
and  took  the  money  and  went  to  a  matinee." 

"Which  was  a  good  idea,  since  you  were 
just  in  the  mood  to  sympathize  with  the  woes 
of  the  heroine,"  observed  Evelyn. 

"I  was  still  more  so,  when  I  reached  home 
and  found  Harold  demanding  his  dressing 
gown." 

"I  see,"  sighed  the  Philosopher;  "he  had  re 
pented,  after  he  had  smoked  a  really  good 
cigar.  I  wonder  if  women  will  ever  learn 
what  a  friend  tobacco  really  is  ?" 

"Not  until  a  smokeless  cigar  has  been  in 
vented,"  said  the  Matron,  promptly.  "Har 
old  had  not  repented,  however;  he  said  he 
was  glad  the  thing  was  gone,  but  where  had 
68 


And  the  Angel  Child 

I  put  the  important  business  letter  he  had  left 
in  the  pocket  of  it !" 

"You  needn't  tell  us  the  rest,  unless  you 
choose,"  sighed  Mae;  "we  need  not  be  seventh 
daughters  to  guess  what  followed." 

"I  won't,  then.  I  will  merely  add  that  in 
consequence  of  the  loss  of  that  letter,  he  missed 
a  stroke  of  business  which  would  have  netted 
him  a  couple  of  hundred  dollars.  He — he  al 
ways  said  that  he  had  meant  to  buy  me  a 
diamond  with  that  money." 

"And  you  can  never,  never  prove  that  he  did 
not!"  groaned  Evelyn. 

"I  cannot.  I  wouldn't  have  minded  so 
much,  if  he  had  not  insisted  that  it  was  all  my 
own  fault.  I  can  do  without  diamonds,  if 
I  have  to,  but  nobody  likes  to  be  told  a  thing 
is  her  fault,  you  know." 

"Oh,  you  poor,  poor  thing!"  cried  Mae. 
"And  all  because  you  had  taken  the  trouble 
to  make  your  husband  a  dressing  gown!  I 
had  no  idea  that  men  were  so  unkind."  She 
looked  severely  at  the  Very  Young  Man,  who 
quailed  visibly  before  her  glance. 
69 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Man 

"Perhaps  he  may  have  another  stroke  of 
fortune,  and  buy  you  the  diamond  another 
time,"  said  Dolly,  hopefully. 

"A  diamond  on  the  finger  is  worth  two  at 
the  jeweler's,  dear.  It  is  very  sweet  of  you, 
though,  to  be  so  optimistic  about  it." 

"Most  people  are  optimistic  concerning  the 
woes  of  others,"  said  Evelyn,  briskly. 

"Well,  after  all,  the  bachelor  girl  may  have 
fewer  diamonds  than  the  married  woman,"  said 
Belinda,  "but  she— 

"Is  more  afraid  of  burglars?"  finished 
Tracy.  "Yes,  I've  noticed  that  myself." 

"Anyhow,  it  is  the  men  who  are  burglars," 
said  Miss  Adams.  "You  never  heard  of  a  fe 
male  burglar,  did  you?" 

"I've  often  wondered  that  the  bachelor  girl 
is  continually  calling  upon  others  to  notice  the 
joys  of  her  lot,"  said  the  Philosopher.  "Does 
she,  by  any  chance,  imagine  that  the  mere  man 
fails  to  envy  the  creature  who  can  make  a  home 
out  of  a  latch-key  and  a  few  sofa  pillows?" 

"And  who  has  the  courage  to  go  out  in  a 
rainy-day  dress  by  day,  and  a  theater  hat  by 
70 


And  the  Angel  Child 

night!"  cried  Tracy.  "Say  what  you  will 
about  Man;  he  may  not  be  a  mouse-fearing 
animal ;  but  he  quails  before  such  a  small  thing 
as  public  opinion." 

"I  saw  a  man  in  a  rainy-day  dress,  all  bright 
plaid,  like  mamma's,  the  other  day,"  said  the 
Angel  Child,  suddenly.  "Dolly  said  he  was  a 
Scotchman.  I  don't  see  what  they  are  laugh 
ing  at  now,  mamma,  do  you  ?  You  always  tell 
me  that  children  must  not  laugh  at  grown 
folks,  but  grown  folks  are  always  laughing 
at  children.  Yes,  thank  you,  Dolly;  I  will 
have  a  lump  of  sugar.  I  have  had  several  al 
ready,  while  you  were  talking  to  Mr.  Sweet 
ing.  You  always  seem  to  agree  with  Mr. 
Sweeting,  and  Miss  Belinda  always  disagrees 
with  Mr.  Hardy.  I  think  that  is  funny,  when 
they  are  not  even  related  to  each  other,  don't 
you?  Papa  says " 

"It  is  time  to  go  home,  I  am  sure,"  said  the 
Matron,  hastily.  "Well,  I  know  one  thing, 
Dolly;  the  bachelor  girl  can  make  the  best  tea 
in  creation." 

"I  know  that,"  observed  the  Philosopher, 
71 


The  Very  Young  Man 

"but  I  can't  understand  why  she  gives  it  to 
that  despised  animal,  Man !" 

"The  bachelor  girl  does  not  despise  Man," 
cried  Belinda,  hotly;  "she — she  merely  looks 
upon  him  as  a  brother." 

"Then,  she  is  perfectly  justified  in  criticis 
ing  him,"  said  Tracy,  smiling.  "No  man  is  a 
hero  to  his  sister,  I  am  sure." 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  bachelor  girl  wants 
all  the  privileges  of  the  forum,  without  re 
linquishing  the  ones  of  the  chimney-corner," 
sighed  the  Philosopher;  "and  she  usually  gets 
everything  she  asks.  Luckily  for  the  rest  of 
us,  she  sometimes " 

"Changes  her  mind.  I  know  what  you  are 
about  to  say!  That  is  always  the  last  argu 
ment  of  a  man.  Well,  if  she  does  change  her 
mind  occasionally,  that  proves  nothing!" 

"Except  that  she  has  changed  her  mind," 
laughed  Tracy,  as  he  made  his  escape. 


72 


Chapter  IV 

"Io  is  dot  saloon  I  vants  to  know  aboudt, 
Miss  Manly,"  said  the  janitor's  wife.  "I  hears 
aboudt  it,  und  I  hears  aboudt  it,  und  I  vants 
to  know  vat  id  is.  Is  id  one  of  dem  saloons 
mit  beer  und  free  lunch,  or  is  id  one  of  dem 
saloons  mit  tea  und  talkings  aboudt  dings 
vich  nopody  understands?  I  vants  to  know, 
because  dot  Rafferdy,  he  is  nodt  veil,  und,  if 
I  vas  again  a  lonesome  vidow,  I  vants  a  goot 
husband  again,  not?  und  I  dinks  maype  I 
likes  me  to  marry  a  preacher  nexdt  dime — 
bud  if  I  lives  in  de  house  mit  a  saloon,  dot 
preacher,  he  mightdn't  likes  it,  eh?" 

"You  are  perfectly  safe,  Mrs.  Rafferty,"  re 
plied  Belinda,  smiling.  "I  am  sure  that  no 
preacher  would  object  to  our  salon.  If  you 
have  any  trouble,  at  any  time,  in  proving  your 
case,  you  may  refer  him  to  me.  But  I  thought 
Mr.  Rafferty  was  a  great  deal  better.  Is  he 
worse  again?" 

"He  vas  petter  yesterday,  und  he  vill  pe 
73 


The  Very  Young 

petter  to-morrow,  I  dinks.  But  Mrs.  Wycoff, 
she  vas  gomplaining  aboudt  her  gas  range, 
und  Miss  Adams,  she  vants  her  vindows  vashed, 
und  he  is  nodt  so  veil  to-day.  Put  Mr.  Tracy 
und  Mr.  Sweetings,  dey  Vands  somedings  done 
in  deir  fladt,  und  dey  pays  so  veil,  dot  I  dinks 
he  vill  feel  petter  to-morrow.  Bud  if  you  see 
Mrs.  Wycoff  und  Miss  Adams,  you  mighd  tell 
dem  dot  he  is  very  pad,  indeed,  yoost  now." 
And,  shaking  her  head,  she  started  towards  the 
stairs. 

Belinda  halted  her,  before  she  had  gone  many 
steps.  "I  can't  see,  Mrs.  Rafferty,  why  you 
are  so  anxious  about  another  husband,"  she 
said;  "you  have  already  had  two,  and  for  my 
part,  I  have  had  none  at  all,  and  I  get  along 
very  well  without  one." 

"Dot  is  yoost  id,  my  tear  young  ladys;  you 
haf  nefer  had  a  husband,  und  you  know  nod 
how  useful  dey  are.  For  me,  I  haf  got  indo 
dot  marrying  habid,  und  I  get  nod  veil  along 
midoud  a  husband.  You  are  young  und  hand 
some,  und  you  haf  blendy  of  friends.  Me, 
I  am  old  und  nod  pretty — I  needs  some  von  dot 
74 


And  the  Angel  Child 

cannot  get  away !"  And  she  creaked  her  way, 
triumphantly,  down  the  groaning  stairs. 

Belinda  stood,  absorbed  in  thought,  for  some 
moments,  and  then  Dolly  was  astonished  by  a 
whirlwind  which  descended,  weeping,  upon, 
her,  as  she  sat  peacefully  at  her  embroidery. 

"Oh,  Dolly!"  Belinda  cried,  "tell  me 'this 
moment,  did  you  ever,  for  one  single  instant, 
want  to  marry  any  of  them  ?" 

"To  marry  any  of  who?"  cried  Dolly,  re 
gardless  of  grammar,  in  her  amazement. 

"Oh, 'them — the  poet,  the  widower,  or " 

"Goosie,  of  course  I  didn't  want  to  marry 
any  of  them.  What  has  put  such  a  ridiculous 
idea  into  your  head?" 

"I — I  think  it  was  Mrs.  Rafferty.  She  says 
that  a  husband  is — is  a  very  useful  thing.  She 
has  had  two,  and  she  really  ought  to  know 
better  than  I,  who  have  had  none  at  all. 
When  she  said  that,  it  occurred  to  me  that  you 
might  have  wanted  to  marry  one  of  them,  and 
I  might  have  said  something  to  keep  you  from 
it."  • 

"You  said  a  great  many  things,  if  I  re- 
75 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

member  rightly,  dear.  However,  I  did  not 
mind.  You  know  I — I  never  told  you  about 
any  of  them  until  after  they  had  bothered  me 
a  good  deal.  So " 

"Oh,  you  darling,  I  am  so  relieved!  I 
thought  that  perhaps  I  had  been  refusing  young 
men  for  you,  when — Mercy,  Edward!  where 
did  you  come  from?" 

"I  came  in  at  the  door,  Miss  Belinda.  You 
were  in  suda  a  hurry  to  speak  to  Dolly,  that 
you  left  it  wide  open.  Do  you  know,  I  am 
afraid  your  luncheon  must  have  disagreed  with 
you.  At  least,  that  is  what  mamma  says  when 
I  makes  a  fuss  about  anything.  Sometimes  it 
seems  to  me  that  all  the  really  nice  things  are 
unwholesome.  When  she  eats  rarebit  and 
things  like  that,  it  gives  mamma  an  attack  of 
the  nerves.  Does  temper  always  get  to  be 
nerves,  when  people  are  grown  up,  Dolly?" 

"It  depends  upon  who  has  them,  with  the 
most  of  us,  I'm  afraid,  Edward.  But  why  do 
you  ask?" 

"Oh,  nothing,  only  Mr.  Sweeting  told  Mr. 
Tracy  that  he  had  acted  like — like  some  kind 
76 


And  the  Angel  Child 

of  an  idiot — I  couldn't  exac'ly  understand 
what  kind — at  the  salon,  the  other  day.  Mr. 
Tracy  smiled  and  said,  very  politely,  'It  seems 
to  me,  that  your  temper  hasn't  improved,  of 
late,  old  man.'  Then,  I  guess  Mr.  Sweeting 
saw  me,  and  he  muttered  something  about  his 
nerves.  Mr.  Tracy  laughed  and  said  some 
thing  about  Her.  I  suppose  he  meant  Mr. 
Sweeting's  mother,  don't  you?  At  any  rate, 
she  doesn't  approve  of  smoking,  and  he  is 
never,  never  going  to  smoke  another  cigar, 
as  long  as  he  lives,  though  doing  without  them 
makes  him  a  little  nervous,  at  first.  Why, 
Dolly,  how  red  your  face  is!  It  wasn't  so  a 
moment  ago;  was  it,  Miss  Belinda?  What 
is  the  matter?  You  look  just  as  mamma  does 
when  I  tell  company  what  she  has  said  to  papa 
before  they  came.  It  makes  mamma  feel  as  if 
she'd  like  to  go  through  the  floor,  but  the 
company  never  seems  to  mind.  They  say  I 
am  such  an  old-fashioned  child.  I  think  it  is 
rather  hard  on  mamma  to  have  an  old- 
fashioned  child,  when  she  is  so  particular  about 
the  latest  styles,  don't  you  ?" 
77 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"Very,"  said  Dolly,  absently.  "No,  as  I 
said  before,  Belinda,  I  shall  never,  never  want 
to  marry  anybody.  To  live  and  die  a  bachelor 
maid,  is  the  height  of  my  ambition." 

"Mr.  Sweeting  is  going  to  be  a  bachelor, 
too.  He  thinks  that  girls  are  the  silliest  tlr'ngs 
he  ever  knew — he  told  me  so,  a  long  time  ago 
— that  day  that  he  was  packing  up  the  em 
broidered  smoking  cap,  an'  the  hand'erchief 
case,  an'  all  th'  photographs,  you  know.  Why, 
here  is  Mr.  Sweeting  now!  Come  in,  do," 
he  cried,  with  great  hospitality;  "I  was  just 
talking  to  Dolly  about  you." 

"I  suppose  it  is  a  case  of  'save  me  from  my 
friends/  Miss  Watterson,"  said  the  Very 
Young  Man,  trying  to  look  hopeful. 

"Isn't  Dolly  a  friend  of  yours,  Mr.  Sweet 
ing?  I  thought  she  was.  She  always  laughs 
when  you  make  a  joke,  and  papa  says  there  is 
no  greater  proof  of  friendship  than  that.  I 
came  up  here,  because  I  had  spilled  your  ink 
over  the  papers  on  your  desk,  and  the  cloth 
I  used  to  wipe  it  up,  seemed  to  have  a  lot  of 
embroidery  on  it.  I  knew  that  you'd  be  a 
73 


And  the  Angel  Child 

good  deal  worried,  when  you  found  it  out; 
and  it's  best  for  people  to  be  alone,  when  they 
are  worried  about  anything.  I  am  awfully 
sorry  I  did  it,  but  papa  says  it's  no  use  cry 
ing  about  spilled  milk,  and  I  guess  spilled  ink 
is  about  the  same.  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't 
tell  mamma  anything  about  it,  though,  if  \ou 
please.  She  has  gone  shopping,  and  I  was 
playing  war-ship  in  the  bathtub,  and  the  water 
ran  over  a  good  deal.  So  it  is  quite  damp  up 
there  now,  and  I'm  afraid  we'll  have  trouble, 
as  it  is,  when  she  gets  home." 

The  Very  Young  Man  looked  at  Dolly  and 
laughed;  as  for  Dolly,  her  look  of  sympathy 
for  Mrs.  Wycoff  melted  into  smiles  and  dim 
ples.  Belinda,  after  an  absent-minded  sort  of 
greeting  for  the  guest,  disappeared;  and  the 
easy-chair  near  Dolly  looked  very  inviting. 
The  Very  Young  Man  forgot  that  he  had  a 
great  deal  of  reading  to  do  that  afternoon,  as 
he  sank  into  it. 

"Now,  isn't  this  jolly?"  he  cried.  "A  great 
deal  jollier  than  when  all  those  people  are  here. 
Do  you  know,  Miss  Watterson,  I  flatter  myself 
79 


The  Very  Yoxing  Man 

that  I  am  a  good  judge  of  character,  and  I 
think  you  are  the  most  sympathetic  person  I 
ever  knew." 

The  shadows  grew  deeper  and  deeper,  and 
the  gas  logs  shone  like  the  eyes  of  a  dragon, 
through  the  gloom.  The  Very  Young  Man 
was  talking  to  Dolly  about  his  Ideals,  and 
Dolly's  few  remarks  showed  the  depth  of  her 
understanding  of  them,  though  their  acquaint 
ance  was  so  recent.  He  was  just  explaining, 
at  some  length,  the  influence  a  true  friend, 
provided  that  friend  was  a  woman,  could  ex 
ercise  over  a  fellow,  when  Belinda  bounced 
into  the  room. 

"Here  are  you  two  sitting,  and  burglars  have 
been  all  over  the  place!"  she  cried. 

"What!"  The  Very  Young  Man  was  on 
his  feet,  looking  about  him  in  amazement. 
"Burglars,  Miss  Manly!  Where  are  they? 


"As  if  I  knew!"  returned  Belinda,  hotly. 
"They  forgot  to  leave  their  visiting-cards  be 
hind.     I  went  up  to  see  Miss  Adams  for  a  mo 
ment,  and  I — I  left  the  hall  door  open,  think- 
80 


And  the  Angel  Child 

ing  that  a  man  could  at  least  keep  burglars 
away.  Now,  I  come  back,  to  find  that  the  flat 
has  been  looted — and  you  two  in  the  parlor, 
talking  about  friendship!" 

"Are  you  sure  that  they  are  gone?"  cried 
the  Very  Young  Man,  as  he  ran  into  the  next 
room,  followed  by  Belinda,  who  pressed  a 
poker,  kept  for  such  emergencies,  into  his  un 
willing  hand. 

In  the  dining-room  and  bedrooms,  a  scene 
of  confusion  met  his  eyes.  Drawers  and 
closets  were  open  and  their  contents  scattered 
everywhere  upon  the  floor;  whoever  had  done 
the  work,  had  done  it  thoroughly. 

No  trace  of  the  burglars  was  found,  though 
Miss  Adams,  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
search  party,  cried  hysterically:  "Look  out; 
there  he  comes !"  and  took  to  a  chair,  with  her 
skirts  gathered  about  her,  every  time  a  closet 
door  was  opened.  There  was  no  open  win 
dow,  and  no  fastenings  which  had  been  tam 
pered  with,  to  show  the  manner  of  egress 
adopted  by  the  unwelcome  visitors. 

"They  have  simply  walked  out  of  the  front 


The  Very  Yo\mg 

door,  as  they  came  in,"  said  Belinda,  with  the 
calmness  of  despair.  She  sat  down  and  folded 
her  hands  helplessly. 

"And  gone  upstairs,  to  hide  in  my  flat,  ready 
to  murder  me  to-night,"  returned  Miss  Adams, 
with  the  air  of  one  seated  on  a  remote  pinnacle 
of  gloom.  They  both  looked  reproachfully  at 
the  Very  Young  Man,  and  lapsed  into  silence. 

"If  anny  wan  of  yez  is  afther  suspectin' 
meself,  it's  twinty  certificates  of  good  carack- 
ter  I  kin  be  showin'  yez,"  remarked  the  jani 
tor,  with  an  air  of  unnecessary  belligerency. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Rafferty,  I  am  sure  that  no  one 
ever  thought  of  such  a  thing!"  cried  Dolly, 
horrified. 

Belinda  had  regained  her  tongue.  "You 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  Mr.  Rafferty,"  she 
sighed.  The  Very  Young  Man  again  felt  her 
eye  upon  him,  and  quailed. 

"Hadn't  we  better  find  out  just  what  is  miss 
ing,  Miss  Manly?"  he  suggested.  "The  police 
must,  of  course,  be  notified  at  once,  and ' 

"Oh,  Mr.  Sweeting,  you  will  not  leave  us 


And  the  Angel  Child 

until  we  are  quite  sure  that  they  are  gone?" 
Dolly  cried. 

"I  shall  not  leave  until  you  are  quite  safe, 
Miss  Watterson."  He  suddenly  felt  that  the 
situation  was  not  without  its  mitigations.  He 
took  out  a  pencil  and  prepared  to  make  a  list 
of  missing  articles  on  the  back  of  a  letter. 

"And  be  sure  not  to  disturb  any  of  the 
clues,"  said  Miss  Adams,  with  the  air  of  a 
general;  "they  will  be  useful  at  the  trial,  you 
know." 

"Id  is  dot  bolice  I  haf  sent  for  alretry," 
said  Mrs.  Rafferty,  putting  her  head  in  at  the 
door,  but  poised  for  flight,  in  case  any  linger 
ing  burglars  appeared. 

"Haf  you  de  ped  looked  under,  Miss 
Manly?"  she  asked,  as  if  with  sudden  inspira 
tion. 

"The  beds  are  both  folding  ones,  Mrs.  Raf 
ferty;  they  take  as  long  to  open  as  a  safe 
would.  If  I  had  kept  my  valuables  in  one  of 
them,  they  would  be  here  now!" 

"You  were  going  to  make  a  list,  you  know," 
hinted  Miss  Adams. 

83 


The  Very  Young 

"Oh,  dear,  to  think  that  it  is  all  my  fault !" 
wailed  Dolly,  wringing  her  hands.  "Don't 
say  that  you  forgive  me,  Belinda ;  I  really  don't 
deserve  it." 

"It  is  not  your  fault,"  said  Belinda,  firmly; 
"it  all  goes  to  show  that  Man  is  a  superfluous 
animal.  We  have  never  had  burglars  before, 
and  the  moment  Mr.  Sweeting  comes  in,  they 
walk  in  after  him  and  carry  off  everything  of 
value." 

The  worm  showed  faint  signs  of  turning. 
"If  the  front  door  had  been  locked,  or  even 
closed "  he  began. 

"Yes,  Belinda;  you  see  it  was  not  really 
his  fault,"  cried  Dolly,  eagerly.  "The  door 
was  open,  you  know." 

But  Belinda  was  beyond  the  reach  of  logic. 
"How  could  the  door  be  closed,  when  he  had 
just  come  through  it?"  she  demanded. 

"Of  course  it  couldn't,"  agreed  Miss  Adams. 
"I  am  surprised  at  you,  Dolly." 

"Perhaps  they — they  didn't  get  the  things 
you  care  for  most,"  suggested  the  Very  Young 


84 


And  the  Angel  Child 

Man,  after  a  pause.  He  was  quite  unable  to 
say  the  first  things  which  came  into  his  mind. 

"Of  course  they  have  taken  the  things  I  care 
for  most,"  Belinda  said,  dolefully;  "they  al 
ways  do!  Oh,  Dolly,  I  wish  Mr.  Tracy  were 
here.  I  am  sure  he  would  do  something." 

"Or  even  Mr.  Hardy,"  sighed  Miss  Adams. 
"I  am  quite  sure  that  he  would  not  allow  the 
villains  to  escape,  without  making  some  ef 
fort." 

The  Very  Young  Man  glanced  longingly 
at  the  door;  then  back  at  Dolly,  whose  eyes 
were  fixed  anxiously  upon  him. 

"At  any  rate,  if  you  make  a  list  of  the  arti 
cles,  the  police  may  be  able  to  get  them  back 
for  you,"  he  hinted. 

Belinda  fell  to  examining  the  drawers  and 
other  receptacles  which  stood  open.  She  ap 
proached  each  one  as  if  it  were  a  tomb. 

"Oh,  my  grandfather's  candlesticks!"  she 
groaned.  "And  the  spoons  which  belonged 
to  my  great-aunt  !" 

"And  your  new  fur  cape,  and  the  solid  silver 
teapot!"  wailed  Miss  Adams.  "I  suppose  it 
85 


The  Very  Young  Man 

is  in  the  melting  pot  now."  She  evidently  re 
ferred  to  the  teapot,  and  not  to  the  cape. 

"Of  course  it  is!  And  my  pearl  pin,  and 
the  lovely  turquoise  comb  that  my  sister  gave 
me!  I  kept  them  in  an  old  pair  of  shoes,  on 
the  floor  of  the  closet  in  my  room " 

"The  very  place  an  experienced  burglar 
would  look  for  them  first,"  said  Miss  Adams, 
with  evident  relish.  "It  is  not  worth  while 
to  go  to  look  for  them,  Belinda ;  of  course  Lhey 
are  gone.  Put  them  down  on  your  list,  Mr. 
Sweeting." 

"Oh,  you  poor,  poor  darling!"  cried  Dolly. 
"I  can  never,  never  forgive  myself!" 

"I — ah,  doubt  if  Miss  Manly's  possessions 
have  suffered  more  than  your  own,  Miss  Wat- 
terson,"  said  the  Very  Young  Man,  dryly. 

"Why,  I — I  never  once  thought  of  my 
things!  Do  you  suppose  that  my  new  hat 

is "  She  never  finished  the  sentence.  At 

that  instant  Mrs.  Wycoff  flew  into  the  room, 
her  hat  awry  and  her  face  a  study  in  distress. 

"Where  is  my  child?"  she  cried,  wildly. 
"The  burglars  have  taken  him,  I  know  they 
86 


And  the  Angel  Child 

have!     I've  hunted  for  him  everywhere,  and 
they  say  he  was  here!" 

The  three  women  looked  at  each  other, 
breathless.  No  one  had  thought  of  the  child 
and  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

The  Matron  turned  to  Belinda.  "Where 
is  my  child?"  she  repeated. 

"I — I  don't  know.  He  was  here,  when  I 
left ;  he  was  talking  to  Mr.  Sweeting  and " 

"Then,  what  have  you  done  with  him?" 
demanded  the  Matron,  wheeling  and  facing  the 
Very  Young  Man.  "You  were  here,  and  I 
shall  hold  you  responsible  for  his  recover}  !" 

The  Very  Young  Man,  looking  about  him 
for  a  place  of  retreat,  stumbled  over  a  huge 
bundle,  which  no  one  had  noticed,  behind  the 
door,  in  the  confusion. 

"Hello,  here  is  the  silver!  Here  are  all 
the  things!"  he  called,  cheerfully.  "It's  all 
right,  Miss  Manly!" 

"Don't     open     it     here!"     shrieked     Miss 
Adams.     "There  may  be  dynamite  in  it,  and 
no  silver  at  all!     I  read  of  a  case  where  bur 
glars  used  dynamite,  not  long  ago." 
87 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

"I  think  they  were  robbing  a  bank,  not  a 
flat  then,  Miss  Adams,"  replied  the  Very 
.Young  Man,  meekly.  "Anyhow,  the  silver 
seems  to  be  here,  and " 

"But  what  is  a  little  trumpery  silver,  com 
pared  to  my  child !"  cried  Mrs.  Wycoff.  "Oh, 
they  have  left  it  and  taken  him  instead.  I  see 
it  as  plain  as  day.  Why  do  you  all  stand 
there?  Why  don't  you  do  something?" 

"I — I'll  go  for  the  janitor,"  said  Belinda, 
meekly.  "He  must  do  something,  else  I  shall 
complain  to  the  agent.  Ring  the  bell,  Dolly ;  I 
can't  remember  whether  it  is  three  times  for  the 

janitor,  or  three  times  for  heat,  and  four 

Oh,  here  he  is !  Why  don't  you  do  something, 
Mr.  Rafferty?  If  I  were  a  man,  I  would, 
and  not  stand  there,  staring  like — like  a  gar 
goyle!" 

"It's  th'  cellar  windows  Oi  was  afther  look 
ing  at,  Miss,  t'  see  which  way  th'  dirthy  blag- 
gards  was  afther  a-goin',  an'  how  they  got  in  at 
all,  at  all,"  was  the  dignified  reply.  "Masther 
Wycoff  is  it?  An'  phat  is  thot  oonder  th' 
lounge,  Miss?" 

88 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"My  child!"  cried  Mrs.  Wycoff,  wildly. 
"Merciful  heavens,  have  they  killed  him?" 
She  was  evidently  about  to  faint,  and  Dolly 
put  her  into  the  nearest  chair,  while  Miss 
Adams  went  for  water. 

It  was  the  Very  Young  Man  who  dragged 
the  Angel,  Child  once  more  to  the  light  of 
day.  "Hello,  old  man,  what's  the  matter? 
Asleep?"  he  queried,  cheerfully. 

The  Angel  Child  was  very  dusty  and  dis 
heveled,  but  smiling;  he  rubbed  his  eyes  with 
his  by  no  means  immaculate  fingers.  "Why, 
what's  the  matter  here?"  he  demanded.  "You 
are  not  going  t'  faint,  when  papa  isn't  here, 
are  you,  mamma?  There  isn't  much  harm 
done  in  the  bathroom;  indeed  there  isn't!'* 

Mrs.  Wycoff  cast  her  consolers  right  and  left, 
and  pounced  upon  him. 

"Oh,  my  darling,  to  think  that  they  might 
have  stolen  you!"  she  wailed.  "I'll  never, 
never  let  you  out  of  my  sight  again,  until  you 
are  twenty-one  years  old!" 

"To  think  that  the  dear  child  might  have 
been  stolen,"  said  Dolly,  to  the  Very  Young 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

Man.  "Oh,  I  should  never  have  forgiven  my 
self  as  long  as  I  lived,  if  he  had  been." 

"But  we  are  losing  time,"  said  Miss  Adams, 
with  a  business-like  air.  "We  must  examine 
every  possible  spot  for  clues  of  the  burglars, 
so  that  when  the  police  come,  they  will  lose 
no  time." 

"And  you  had  better  go  carefully  through 
that  bundle,  Miss  Manly,"  said  the  Very 
Young  Man;  "your  valuables  may  not  all  be 
there,  and " 

"That's  all  right,  Miss  Manly;  they  are  all 
there,"  said  the  Angel  Child,  calmly.  "There 
wasn't  any  real  burglars,  you  know.  You  see, 
I  got  tired  of  listening  to  Mr.  Sweeting  telling 
Dolly  about  the  influence  of  Woman,  and  I 
didn't  want  to  be  home  when  mamma  got 
there,  so  I  thought  I'd  play  burglar  a  while, 
and " 

"Edward  Faversham  Wycoff,  you  naughty 
boy,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  piled  all  those 
things  up  in  a  bundle  and  then  crawled  under 
the  couch  and  went  to  sleep,  frightening  me 


90 


Arvd  the  Angel  Child 

to  death?"  his  mother  cried.     She  had  ceased 
to  weep,  and  sat  up  very  straight. 

"Why,  yes,  I  did,"  sobbed  the  Angel  Child; 
"but  I  didn't  mean  any  harm  ;  indeed,  I  didn't. 
I  played  somebody  was  coming,  and  hid  under 
the  couch,  and  th'  next  thing  I  knew,  Mr. 
Sweeting  pulled  me  out,  and  you  were  all  here. 
Why,  mamma,  what  are  you  doing?  I  don't 
want  to  go  home;  I  want  to  stay  with  Dolly. 


"You  shall  see  what  I  am  going  to  do,  when 
I  have  got  you  upstairs,"  his  mother  said, 
firmly. 

"Oh,  Belinda,  I  am  so  glad  that  your  lovely 
things  are  safe,"  cried  Dolly.  "I  am  sure  that 
Mr.  Sweeting  -  " 

"Yes,  they  are  safe  —  by  accident,"  said 
Belinda,  calmly.  "If  burglars  had  got  in,  I 
am  sure  that  Mr.  Sweeting  would  never  have 
heard  them." 

"Yes,  I  hope  you  will  be  more  careful  after 
this,  Mr.  Sweeting,"  said  Miss  Adams.  "An 
other  time,  the  things  -  " 

"What's  all  this?"  said  a  voice  from  the 
91 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

doorway.  "And  which  way  did  the  burglars 
go  ?  Hello,  this  looks  like  Dirty  Jim's  work  1" 
The  Very  Young  Man  turned,  to  see  two 
policemen  entering  the  room.  Another  glance 
told  him  that  he  alone  was  left  to  explain  the 
situation. 


92 


Chapter  V 

"THE  person  with  a  pet  virtue  is  a  great 
bore,"  remarked  the  Philosopher.  "Espe 
cially  when  you  happen  to  live  in  the  house 
with  him,"  he  added.  "Standing  on  tiptoe, 
with  ringer  on  lip,  to  admire  a  lofty  virtue  is 
all  very  well,  once  in  a  while;  but  everything 
grows  monotonous,  when  it  is  no  longer  volun 
tary,  but  obligatory." 

"True,"  said  Tracy,  thoughtfully.  "I  have 
known  people  who  hanged  themselves,  but  I 
have  never  known  one  who  was  willing  to  be 
hanged." 

"I  suppose  that  we  are  all  more  or  less  prone 
to  look  at  our  virtues  through  a  magnifying 
glass,"  remarked  the  Matron. 

"A  very  harmless  and  often  necessary  oc 
cupation,  dear  lady;  still,  I  consider  it  unwise 
to  require  others  to  do  the  same.  Well,  well, 
one  good  thing  may  be  said  of  vice:  it  is  at 
least  modest  concerning  its  own  achievements." 
93 


The  Very  Young  M<xn 

"Especially  when  placed  in  the  dock,"  said 
Tracy. 

"Exactly.  It  is  in  family  life  that  the  ex 
cessive  virtue  is  at  its  worst.  Take  for  in 
stance,  unselfishness,  which  is,  in  moderation, 
the  most  companionable  of  the  virtues ;  a  mem 
ber  of  a  family,  so  to  speak,  adopts  that  par 
ticular  virtue,  and  what  is  the  result?  The 
others  become  riotously  selfish,  and  conse 
quently  unpleasant  to  everyone — for  no  one 
likes  a  selfish  person,  save  himself,  and  he  is 
prejudiced.  Who  is  to  blame  for  this  state 
of  affairs?  The  unselfish  member,  of  course, 
though  he  would  never  admit  it.  Oh,  no,  he 
hugs  his  martyrdom  and  calls  attention  to  it; 
whereas  he  is  tempter,  not  victim." 

"But  the  remedy  might  be  an  opposition 
virtue,"  suggested  Tracy.  "Surely,  one  exces 
sive  virtue  might  be  an  antidote  for  another. 
But  why  did  you  select  unselfishness  as  a  rep 
resentative  vicious  virtue?  For  my  part,  I 
believe  that  excessive  cleanliness  has  broken 
up  as  many  homes  as  golf." 

The  Philosopher  sighed.  "Some  subiects 
94 


And  the  Angel  Child 

are  too  painful  for  discussion,"  he  replied. 
"My  own  grandmother  was  a  New  England 
woman.  I  have  often  thought  that  her  chief 
pleasure  in  contemplating  the  hereafter  was, 
not  that  she  might  see  her  enemies  punished, 
but  the  hope  that  to  her  would  be  delegated  the 
polishing  of  some  of  the  angelic  crowns." 

"It  is  all  very  well  for  you  men  to  talk 
about  excessive  cleanliness,"  said  the  Matron, 
flushing;  "but  the  top  of  the  piano  is  not  the 
place  for  soiled  linen.  I  know  that  I  have  no 
secrets  from  any  of  you,  because  the  mega 
phone — I  mean  the  air  shaft — acts  the  part  of 
confidant  to  all  of  us.  But  a  man  may  be  a 
compendium  of  all  the  ordinary  virtues,  and 
yet  need  a  woman  with  a  dust-pan  to  follow 
his  every  step." 

"A  cause  in  which  lovely  woman  is  always 
ready  to  sacrifice  herself,"  said  Tracy,  with  a 
fine  smile.  "I  suppose  that  Man  may  be 
roughly  described  as  an  untidy  animal,  with 
seventeen  pockets  in  his  garments.  Perhaps 
his  shortcomings  in  the  matter  of  tidiness  may 
be  the  real  root  of  Mormonism,  after  all." 
95 


The  Very  Young  Man 

"Hardly,  since  Mormonism  was  established 
by  Man  himself,"  returned  the  Philosopher. 
"Well,  it  seems  to  me,  that  economy  is  the 
dreariest  virtue  of  them  all.  .When  exercised 
vicariously,  it  leads " 

"People  with  slender  appetites,  to  feed  help 
less  boarders  upon  anecdotes,  cold  bread  and 
preserves,  for  Sunday  evening  tea?  Indeed, 
it  does !"  cried  Evelyn.  "Was  it  boarding  that 
made  you  a  philosopher,  Mr.  Hardy?" 

"At  least,  I  was  not  a  philosopher  when  I 
boarded,  Miss  Whiting.  At  present,  however, 
I  was  thinking  of  the  economy  of  the  landlord, 
who  reduces  the  heat  of  the  apartment  house, 
in  which  he  does  not  reside,  until  the  inhabi 
tants  thereof  give  up  their  sittings  at  church 
and  contemplate  calmly,  even  joyously,  a  future 
spent  in  the  warmest  of  climates." 

"I  have  often  thought,"  said  Tracy;  "that 
future  legislation  will  compel  the  landlord  to 
live  in  his  own  apartment  house,  thus  forcing 
him  to  realize  that  hardwood  floors  are  not 
conductors  of  heat,  and  that  highly  decorated 
front  halls  are  frequently  the  outward  and 
96 


And  the  Angel  Child 

visible  sign  of  bedrooms  apparently  built  with 
a  view  to  their  utilization  as  dark  rooms  by 
amateur  photographers." 

"But  then  one  can  always  move,  when  one 
is  not  satisfied,"  said  the  Matron,  cheerfully. 

The  Philosopher  shuddered.  "One  of  the 
strangest  things  about  your  fascinating  sex  is 
the  fact  that,  while  you  may  grow  tender  over 
drowning  flies,  you  do  not  hesitate  to  doom, 
for  the  sake  of  an  extra  closet,  or  another  bed 
room,  the  man  who  has  never  done  you  wrong, 
who  has  even,  in  his  clumsy  way,  been  good  to 
you,  to  all  the  horrors  of  moving.  Person 
ally,  I  prefer  to  remain  in  a  house  where  the 
heating  apparatus  may  be  used  as  a  refrig 
erating  plant,  in  summer,  rather  than  fly,  via 
moving  vans,  to  ills  I  already  know  so  well." 

"I  guess  that's  because  you  are  not  married, 
Mr.  Hardy,"  said  the  Angel  Child,  who  was 
very  quiet,  and  on  his  best  behavior.  "Papa 
says  he  likes  to  move,  once  in  a  while,  so 
that  mamma  has  a  new  subjec'  to  worry  about. 
He  says  she  isn't  happy,  unless  she  has  some 
thing  to  be  unhappy  about,  and — Did  you 
97 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

speak,  mamma,  or  did  you  just  tell  me  to  stop 
talking?" 

"I  fancy  one  might  as  well  expect  to  find  a 
gown  which  is  really  comfortable  and  fash 
ionable  too,  as  an  apartment  house  which  was 
not  apparently  designed  by  a  misanthropist," 
said  Mae,  speaking  very  rapidly,  as  if  she 
feared  the  words  might  be  taken  from  her 
mouth.  "I  never  knew  an  architect,  but  I 
have  somehow  always  thought  of  them  as  a 
race  of  disappointed  old  bachelors,  who  re 
venged  themselves  on  the  wo^ld  by  destroy 
ing  family  life  and  comfort,  by  designing 
modern  apartment  houses." 

"And  still,  it  must  require  some  training 
to  enable  one  to  design  the  Perfect  house,"  said 
Evelyn,  thoughtfully.  "I  once  knew  a  woman 
who  designed  her  own  house,  and  yet,  when 
they  moved  into  it,  they  had  to  sleep  in  the 
closets  and  store  their  clothes  in  the  bedrcoms 
— which  was  really  not  convenient,  you  know." 

"The  Perfect  house,  my  dear  young  lady, 
is  the  one  you  mean  to  design  for  yourself, 
next  year,"  said  the  Philosopher,  warmly. 
98 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Take  my  advice,  and  never,  never  let  it  go 
further  than  the  intention." 

"Oh,  but  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  could  design 
a  Perfect  house,"  said  Miss  Adams.  "Women 
are  the  only  true  architects,  after  all." 

"Then  why  on  earth  have  they  never  under 
taken  it  as  a  profession?"  asked  the  Philoso 
pher,  looking  mystified. 

"Because  they  can  be  a  great  deal  more  com 
fortable  with  some  one  else  to  blame  for  the 
imperfections  of  a  house,"  replied  Evelyn, 
promptly.  "There  is  no  use  in  undertaking 
a  thing  yourself,  when  you  can  make  some 
one  else  do  it,  and  then  blame  him,  when  you 
change  your  mind." 

"I  have  always  wanted  to  design  a  house," 
said  Dolly,  blushing  very  much  at  sound  of 
her  own  voice.  "I  should  have  plenty  of  win 
dows  in  it,  and  in  each  bedroom  there  should 
be  two  places  where  a  bed  might  be  placed, 
without  closing  either  door  or  windows." 

"And  a  clothes-press  in  every  hall!"  cried 
the  Matron.  "And  stairs  up  which  one  could 


99 


The  Very  Young 

really  disappear,  when  callers  arrived  unex 
pectedly  !" 

"Yes,  and  there  should  be  a  nice  view  from 
each  window,"  cried  Miss  Adams.  "And 
catches  on  them,  which  really  fasten,  too!" 

"And  a  place  where  vegetables  could  really 
be  kept!"  cried  Belinda.  "And  hardwood 
floors,  electric  bells,  all  modern  devices  known 
to  plumbers,  and  locks  which  could  not  be 
picked !  Such  a  house  could  be  planned  easily, 
I  am  sure,  and  would  cost  very  little." 

"A  mere  song,"  agreed  the  Matron. 

The  Philosopher  shook  his  head  sorrow 
fully.  "Architecture,  like  philanthropy,  is  best 
let  alone,  unless  you  are  sure  of  being  able  to 
leave  to  others  the  contemplation  of  your 
failures,"  he  sighed.  "But  have  we  not  wan 
dered  a  good  way,  from  virtues  to  architec 
ture?" 

"I  think  we  were  merely  engaged  in  proving 
that  faulty  architecture  goes  far  towards  cul 
tivating  virtues  which  would  otherwise  be  un 
necessary,"  replied  Belinda. 

"Dear  me,"  sighed  Dolly;  "are  virtues  ever 
JOO 


And  the  Angel  Child 

unnecessary?  Life  is  such  a  comolex  matter 
already.  Why  will  you  clever  people  keep  on 
making  it  more  complex  for  the  rest  of  us, 
rather  than  more  simple  ?  I  suppose  that  I  am 
very  stupid,  or  worse  yet,  old-fashioned;  but 
I  don't  expect  any  sympathy  for " 

"Sympathy?  Perish  the  thought!"  cried 
Tracy.  "Show  me  a  sympathetic  person,  and 
I  will  show  you  a  dangerous  person.  Do  you 
know,  Miss  Watterson,  that  sympathy  is  only 
another  name  for  flattery?  And  flattery,  in 
the  hands  of  a  woman  under  fifty,  is  more 
dangerous  than  an  automobile." 

"You  oughtn't  to  say  that  to  Dolly,  Mr. 
Tracy;  she  is  a  very  sympathetic  person — Mr. 
Sweeting  says  so,  and  he  ought  to  know,  be 
cause  she  sympathizes  with  him,"  said  the 
Angel  Child.  "Why,  mamma,  you  surely  don't 
mind  if  I  just  repeat  what  he  said,  do  you? 
Dolly  didn't  mind  at  all ;  she  said  she  thought  it 
a  shame  that  people  had  to  study  so  hard  before 
they  were  admitted  to  the  bar.  What  is  a  bar, 
Mr.  Tracy?  I  know  that  Mr.  Rafferty  is  ad 
mitted  to  one,  because  Mrs.  Rafferty  said  the 
JOJ 


other  day,  that  it  would  be  better  for  him  if  he 
spent  more  time  at  his  work  and  less  at  the  bar, 
Doesn't  Mr.  Sweeting  know  as  much  as  Mr. 
Rafferty?" 

"Well,  really,  Master  Wycoff,  since  I  am 
not  Mr.  Rafferty's  wife,  I  hesitate  to  criticise 
him.  As  for  Mr.  Sweeting,  we  disagree  upon 
most  subjects,  and  I  decline  to  incriminate 
myself  by  pronouncing  upon  his  mental  acquire 
ments  or  capacity." 

"Oh !"  said  the  Angel  Child,  looking  mysti 
fied.  "You  forgot  to  tell  th'  ladies  that  he  isn't 
coming  to-day,  didn't  you?  He  says  if  you 
were  not  a  lady,  Miss  Belinda,  he  would  ex 
pect  you  to  apologize  to  him  for  the  things 
you  said  to  him,  the  day  I  had  such  a  good 
time  playing  burglar,  and  such  a  bad  time  with 
mamma  afterwards.  And  Miss  Adams  is  a 

cat.  She Why,  mamma,  I  don't  see  why 

you  look  at  me  in  that  way;  Mr.  Sweeting 
said  it,  and  you  said  yourself,  the  other  day, 
that  she  was  kittenish — and  it  amounts  to  the 
same  thing !" 


J02 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Little  boys,"  began  Miss  Adams,  with 
heightened  color,  "should " 

"Oh,  I  know  what  you  are  going  to  say, 
Miss  Adams;  I  have  heard  it  often  before. 
'Little  boys  should  be  seen,  not  heard.'  Well, 
I  don't  know  why  God  gave  me  a  tongue,  if 
I'm  never  to  use  it.  Yes,  thank  you,  Dolly, 
I  will  have  another  piece  of  cake.  I  guess 
you  must  really  be  a  sympathetic  sort  of  a  per 
son,  and  you  don't  get  much  chance  to  talk 
yourself,  when  Miss  Belinda  is  around,  do 
you?" 

"Speaking  of  sympathy,  Mr.  Tracy,  it  does 
seem  to  me  that  men  begrudge  each  other  a 
word  of  sympathy,  as  much  as  girls  begrudge 
each  other  new  gowns.  And  yet,  so  long  as 
he  keeps  it  out  of  the  courts  and  the  morgue, 
you  never  hear  anyone  speak  of  man's  jealousy 
of  man,"  remarked  Evelyn. 

"Oh,  really,  Miss  Whiting,  you  don't  ex 
pect  me  to  give  away  all  the  secrets  of  my 
prison  house,  do  you?  I  only  know  that  you 
can  generally  tell  by  the  way  a  fellow  con 
descends  to  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  at 
JOS 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

breakfast,  that  some  nice  girl  has  been  sym 
pathizing  with  him  over  night,  and  he  is  still 
on  a  pedestal.  I  suppose  it  is  a  melancholy 
proof  of  fallen  human  nature,  but  somehow 
you  long  to  punch  his  head '" 

"Instead  of  criticising  his  hat?  I  see.  A 
girl  usually  acts  that  way  the  first  time  she 
is  engaged,  before  she  finds  out  that  there  is 
many  a  slip  between  the  ring  and  the  license. 
Still,  if  you  don't  mind  a  little  snubbing,  it 
is  the  very  time  to  ask  her  a  favor — she  is  sure 
to  grant  it,  out  of  sheer  pity.  But  if  it  is  the 
loan  of  her  newest  waist  or  anything  like  that, 
to  show  to  your  dressmaker,  that  you  ask,  you 
had  better  take  it  with  you  and  not  wait  for  it 
to  be  sent,  for  she  will  never  think  of  it,  or 
you  again,  until  they  have  their  first  quarrel — 
and  then  she  will  only  remember  to  change  her 
mind." 

"Oh,  by  the  way,  Mrs.  Wycoff,"  said  Mae, 
"I  think  your  sister  Alice  must  be  really  en 
gaged  to  Mr.  Brownston.  I  met  her  yesterday, 
and  she  told  me  that  my  new  hat  was  awfully 


And  the  Angel  Child 

becoming.  Only  a  girl  who  was  perfectly! 
happy  herself,  would " 

"Yes,  but  it  was  awfully  on  one  side,  dear," 
broke  in  Evelyn;  "somehow,  I  thought  she 
noticed  that  before  she  spoke.  And  she  hasn't 
a  ring  yet,  for  she  was  wearing  an  old  pair 
of  gloves,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that  if  she 
had  it,  she  wouldn't  have  even  worn  new  ones. 
Of  course,  I  don't  ask  any  questions,  Mrs. 
Wycoff,  but " 

"I  couldn't  answer  them,  if  you  did,  my  dear. 
You  see,  the  affair  has  reached  a  point  where 
her  family  can  only  keep  silence,  and  watch 
that  she  doesn't  set  the  house  afire,  burning 
up  old  souvenirs,  or  go  out  in  one  boot  and 
one  shoe,  during  one  of  her  fits  of  abstraction. 
I  think  that  Mr.  Brownston  is  nerving  him 
self  up  to  the  point  of  telling  her  what  she  al 
ready  knows  so  well,  since  he  has  confided  his 
secret  to  everyone  else  he  knows.  I  don't  see 
how  the  poor  girl  will  ever  appear  decently  sur 
prised,  when  he  does  manage  to  tell  her  per 
sonally." 

Tracy  stiuddered.  "Why  doesn't  somebo'dy 
J05 


The  Very  Yoxing 

tell  the  poor  fellow  ?"  he  asked.  "I  don't  dcubt 
that  he  is  afraid  to  break  it  to  her,  believing 
that  it  will  be  a  great  surprise.  Has  it  ever 
occurred  to  you,  Hardy,  that  man  is  a  blun 
dering  animal?" 

"Frequently,  my  dear  fellow;  especially  when 
I  take  my  sister  to  help  me  select  a  wedding 
present,  or  when  I  turn  around  suddenly  in  an 
apartment  house  parlor.  After  all,  I  begin 
to  see  that  the  members  of  the  fair  sex  can 
not  devote  too  much  sympathy  to  us." 

"Possibly  not.  Well,  everything  has  it  com 
pensations.  I  often  think  that  Hope  was  not 
the  only  good  gift  left  in  Pandora's  box.  A 
sense  of  humor  goes  as  far  as  a  fur-lined  coat 
towards  making  a  fellow  comfortable  under 
adverse  circumstances.  And  you  can  enjoy 
your  sense  of  humor  at  the  expense  of  others, 
whereas  your  coat  must  be  procured  at  your 
own." 

"Mamma  hasn't  any  sense  of  humor,"  the 
Angel  Child  said,  suddenly.  "Papa  says  she 
wouldn't  try  to  make  pies,  if  she  had." 

"I  have  as  fine  a  sense  of  humor  as  anybody," 


And  the  Angel  Child 

declared  the  Matron ;  "only  the  things  that  hap 
pen  to  other  people  are  so  much  funnier  than 
the  ones  that  happen  to  me.  That  is  not  my 
fault,  I  am  sure." 

"Of  course  it  isn't,"  said  Tracy,  gallantly; 
"and  I  am  sure  that  your  pies " 

"Indeed  they  are,  Mr.  Tracy.  I  shall  send 
you  one  to-morrow,  and  you  must  give  me 
an  unprejudiced  opinion  on  it." 

Tracy  deftly  turned  a  shudder  into  a  cough. 
"Nothing  would  give  me  greater  pleasure,  I 
assure  you;  but  the  doctor  has  strictly  for 
bidden  me  to  even  look  at  a  pie.  And  I  must 
follow  his  instructions  in  something,  you 
know.  No  doubt,  however,  Mr.  Sweeting 
would  be  delighted  to  deliver  an  opinion  on 
the  subject." 

"Do  you  know,  Mr.  Tracy,  Dolly  thinks  you 
impose  on  Mr.  Sweeting;  she  told  him  so  the 
other  day,  and  he  didn't  deny  it,  either,"  spoke 
the  Angel  Child.  "And  it  does  seem  hard," 
he  continued,  with  a  sigh,  "that  mamma  will 
never  give  me  more  than  one  piece  of  pie,  when 
I  am  the  only  person  that  ever  asks  for  it,  too ! 
J07 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

She  tells  me  it  is  unwholesome,  and  I  don't  see 
why  she  cries  when  papa  won't  eat  it." 

"Oh,  do  you  know,"  broke  in  Evelyn,  "I 
have  a  friend  who  always  gives  her  husband 
pie  for  dinner  when  she  wants  a  bill  paid  or 
theater  tickets  ordered.  She " 

"I — er — hope  there  is  no  insanity  in  your 
friend's  family,  Miss  Whiting,"  observed 
Tracy;  "the  courts  might  take  it  as  evidence 
if,  at  any  time " 

"None  at  all.  You  see,  she  always  has 
remedies  at  hand,  and  when  Le  is  out  of  danger, 
he  is  so  thankful,  that  he  is  willing  to  do  any 
thing  she  asks.  I  don't  know  a  young  married 
woman  anywhere  who  pays  her  bills  as 
promptly  and  goes  to  the  theater  as  often  as 
she  does." 

"And  yet,  they  say  that  women  have  no 
sense  of  humor,"  sighed  Tracy.  "But  such  is 
the  modesty  of  true  genius,  that  I  doubt  if 
your  friend  is  even  aware  that  she  is  a  humor 
ist." 

"I  think  that  dear  Alys  is  fully  aware  of 


JOS 


And  the  Angel  Child 

all  her  good  points,  and  even  of  some  which 
do  not  exist,"  replied  Evelyn,  smiling. 

"But,  then,  you  know,  her  mother  has  been 
married  three  times,  and  she  started  in  matri 
mony  with  an  unfair  advantage,"  said  Mae. 
"In  consequence  of  this,  the  dear  girl  is  so — so 
tactful,  that  she  can  hardly  tell  the  truth  even 
to  the  doctor." 

"What  a  deteriorating  effect  matrimony  has 
upon  some  women,"  said  Miss  Adams,  shak 
ing  her  head,  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger. 

"What  can  you  expect — since  they  marry 
men?"  queried  Tracy,  smiling. 

"I  hope  you  don't  confound  cynicism  with 
humor,  Mr.  Tracy,"  spoke  the  Matron;  "for 
my  own  part,  I  think  placards  should  announce 
the  dwelling-place  of  the  cynic,  just  as  they 
do  the  abode  of  the  smallpox  or  scarlet-fever 
patient." 

"I  am  not  a  cynic,  dear  lady ;  merely  a  news 
paper  man.  The  interviewer,  the  physician 
and  the  police  court  judge  sometimes  come  to 
see  things  a  bit  out  of  proportion.  You  see,  we 
get  into  the  habit  of  leaving  our  rose-colored 
J09 


The  Very  Young  Man 

glasses  at  home,  when  we  go  out  to  face  the 
vanity,  the  wretchedness  and  the  vice  of  hu 
manity.  And  sometimes,  when  we  are  off  duty 
and  try  to  readjust  the  glasses  once  more,  we 
find  the  injury  to  the  optic  nerve  is  permanent 
and  we  can  no  longer  see  through  them." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Tracy,  how  dreadful !"  cried  Dolly. 
"Let  me  give  you  a  fresh  cup  of  tea ;  I  am  sure 
that  yours  is  quite  cold.  And  won't  you  take 
that  easy-chair  over  yonder?  I  am  sure  that 
it  is  more  comfortable." 

"Thank  you,  Miss  Watterson;  but  I  have 
not  even  a  crumpled  tea-leaf  to  inconvenience 
me.  And  you  really  must  not  reward  me  for 
speaking  of  unpleasant  things." 

"You  were  speaking  of  Pandora's  box,  a 
while  ago,"  said  the  Philosopher.  "It  has  oc 
curred  to  me  that  it  might  have  contained, 
in  some  unsuspected  corner,  a  package  of  tea; 
surely,  nothing  is  more  comforting  than  a  cup 
of  it,  unless  it  be  a  pair  of  old  boots,  or  a  sizable 
check,  filled  out  by  some  one  else." 

"It  depends  on  the  kind  of  tea,"  demurred 
Evelyn,  "I  have  tasted  some  which  was  cal- 

no 


And  the  Angel  Child 

culated  to  make  one  go  out  and  commit  murder, 
and  then  glory  in  the  fact.  Has  it  ever  oc 
curred  to  you,  Mr.  Hardy,  that  a  great  many 
crimes  are  committed  in  the  name  of  hospi 
tality?" 

"It  has;  it  has,"  sighed  the  Philosopher, 
"You  see,  I  have  a  great  many  ycung  married 
friends,  and  they  invite  me  to  dinner." 

"So  have  I,"  said  Tracy,  gloomily.  "I've 
often  wondered  why  people  are  so  prodigal 
with  invitations  before  they  have  learned  how 
to  give  a  really  good  dinner,  and  so  niggardly 
with  them,  after  they  have  learned!" 

"The  latter  is  the  more  inexplicable,  since 
they  only  learn  how  to  do  it  by  experimenting 
on  their  bachelor  friends." 

"Possibly  that  is  why  they  no  longer  invite 
them,"  observed  Evelyn,  thoughtfully;  "one 
really  dyspeptic  guest  can  destroy  the  jollity 
of  an  entire  party,  you  know." 

"True,"  the  Philosopher  agreed.  "Ah,  well, 
young  physicians  learn  by  means  of  sometimes 
fatal  experiment ;  why  should  not  young  house 
keepers  enjoy  the  same  privilege?" 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Man 

The  Angel  Child  slid  off  his  chair  and 
wakened  from  the  slumber  into  which  he  had 
fallen. 

"Why,  is  that  Mr.  Hardy  still  talking?"  he 
asked,  as  he  rubbed  his  eyes.  "I  think  he  must 
talk  in  his  sleep,  like  you  say  I  do,  mamma. 
Oh,  dear,  have  I  said  anything  very  bad?  If 
I  have,  I  wish  you'd  tell  me  now,  and  I'll  stay 
down  here  with  Dolly  until  you've  forgotten  it. 
I  think  that  cake  is  going  to  make  me  sick  any 
how,  and  I  might  just  as  well  eat  a  little  more, 
while  I  am  about  it.  I  think  you  might  let 
me,  mamma,  because  if  I  am  very  sick,  you 
will  not  have  to  go  to  Grandma  WycofFs  whist 

party.  You  said "  his  voice  died  away  on 

the  stair. 

"Who  was  it  that  said  conversation  was 
merely  the  concealment  of  one's  thoughts?" 
Tracy  asked,  dreamily. 

"I  don't  know,"  replied  the  Philosopher; 
"but  I  begin  to  see  that  there  may  have  been 
mitigating  circumstances  in  the  murder  of  the 
young  princes  in  the  Tower.  Take  my  word 
for  it,  Richard  the  Third  was  not  such  a  bad  fel 
low  as  Shakespeare  has  made  him  appear." 

in 


CHatpter  VI 

"AFTER  all,  philanthropy  is  the  only  door  to 
true  happiness,"  remarked  Belinda,  as  she 
handed  the  Philosopher  a  cup  of  tea. 

The  Philosopher  smiled:  "I  suppose  that 
even  a  philanthropist  may  be  happy — when  he 
has  ceased  to  expect  gratitude." 

"Nonsense;  the  only  happy  philanthropist  is 
the  dead  philanthropist,"  observed  Tracy. 
"However,  when  an  enthusiast  gets  through 
sowing  his  philanthropical  wild  oats  and  settles 
down  to  be  merely  charitable,  he  is  really  some 
good  in  the  world." 

The  Philosopher  nodded :  "The  poor  had 
rather  absorb  dinners  than  theories,  any  day 
in  the  week,  Miss  Manly;  a  fact  which  shows 
that  the  poor  are  human,  if  they  are  not  agreea 
ble.  I  doubt  if  a  hungry  person  ever  takes 
much  interest  in  the  scheme  which  is  to  revolu 
tionize  social  conditions  in  the  next  cenuiry. 

m 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Ma.n 

But  you  have  evidently  a  philanthropical 
scheme  on  hand,  and  it  is  as  useless  to  argue 
with  a  philanthropist  as " 

"It  is  to  reason  with  a  hired  girl,"  broke 
in  the  Matron;  "of  course  it  is.  Well,  I  have 
just  lost  a  bargain,  and  I  am  feeling  as  pes 
simistic  as  an  old  maid  whose  seventeen-year- 
old  niece  is  about  to  be  married.  Tell  me  your 
plans,  Belinda,  and  I  will,  at  least,  be  polite 
about  them." 

"Philanthropy  can  afford  to  smile  at  flip 
pancy,"  said  Belinda,  loftily.  "My  plan  is 
very  simple  and  very  practical.  I  have  de 
cided  to  devote  my  future  spare  time  to  the 
Art  education  of  poor  boys,  who  will  be  led 
by  degrees  to  desire  the  refinements  which  they 
see  about  me,  and  who  will  thus  be  elevated 
socially  and  intellectually,  at  the  same  time." 

The  Matron  sat  suddenly  upright. 
"Belinda  Manly,  you  don't  mean  to  say  that 
you  mean  to  bring  them  here?" 

Belinda  cast  one  wavering  look  at  the  sofa 
pillows  which  were  her  most  cherished  posses 
sions.  "Here,"  she  said  firmly.  "I  shall  be- 
114 


And  the  Angel  Child 

gin  to-morrow,  and  Dolly  will  help  me.  I 
shall  explain  Art  to  them,  with  the  aid  of  really 
good  pictures,  and  Dolly  will  teach  them  to 
appreciate  Bach." 

"You  are  wise  to  take  your  pupils  young," 
said  the  Philosopher.  "Bach  and  the  old 
masters  are  not  loved  in  a  day.  May  I  ask 
what  has  turned  your  ideas  into  this  channel  ?" 

"You  may.  I  was  in  the  parlor  this  morn 
ing,  dusting  the  bric-a-brac,  when  I  heard  a 
tap  at  the  door.  I  happened  to  have  in  my 
hand  that  lovely  pipe  rack  which  represents 
the  Seven  Deadly  Sins — the  one  my  aunt  sent 
me  from  Rome,  last  winter,  you  remember — 
and  I  went  without  putting  it  down.  On  the 
threshold  stood  a  ragged  boy,  with  the  loveli 
est  eyes  I  ever  saw." 

"It  is  odd  that  one's  philanthropical  instincts 
always  go  out  towards  beautiful  eyes,"  mused 
the  Philosopher.  "I  suppose  that  people  with 
small,  or  even  crossed  eyes,  suffer  quite  as 
much,  but " 

"He  wanted  work,"  went  on  Belinda,  un 
heeding;  "he  was  even  hungry,  in  this,  a 
H5 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

Christian  land!  And  you  should  have  seen 
how  his  eyes  glistened  when  they  fell  upon 
that  pipe  rack.  He  was  so  respectful  and  so 
intelligent  that  I  brought  him  in  and  showed 
him  that  copy  of  the  'Madonna  of  the  Chair,' 
and  I  even  went  and  got  Dolly's  drawings 
from  casts,  too.  You  should  have  seen  his 
pathetic  pleasure !  I  am  a  judge  of  character, 
and  I  feel  that  that  boy  is  destined  to  great 
things.  Such  transparent  honesty  I  have  never 
seen  pictured  on  any  human  face,  and  I  feel 
that  it  will  be  a  privilege  to  teach  him." 

"Oh,  that  pipe  rack;  the  thought  of  it 
makes  me  ill,"  said  the  Matron.  "I  had  a 
chance " 

"Yes.  Well,  the  end  of  it  was  that  he  went 
away  promising  to  return  to-morrow  evening 
and  bring  several  other  lads  with  him,  to  learn 
the  rudiments  of  Art.  And  now  I  feel  that 
I  have  at  last  found  my  life  work!  As  for 
gratitude,  Mr.  Hardy,  if  you  had  seen  that 
child's  eyes  when  I " 

"Gave    him    his    dinner?     Yes,  no    doubt, 

ill 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"I — I  forgot  to  give  him  anything  to  eat!" 
cried  Belinda.  "You  see,  I  was  so  busy  plan 
ning  a  great  future  for  him,  that  I " 

"Of  course  you  did,"  said  the  Matron, 
soothingly.  "Well,  no  doubt  Mrs.  Rafferty 
gave  him  something  to  eat;  she  is  not  at  all 
philanthropical.  But,  Belinda,  you  will  be 
sorry  to  know  that  such  pipe  racks  are  becom 
ing  common.  I  had  a  chance  to  buy  one  for  a 
dollar  to-day.  The  boy  who  had  carved  it, 
offered  it  to  me  at  that  price;  I  couldn't  find 
my  pocketbook  anywhere,  however,  and  he  was 
in  such  a  hurry  that  he  couldn't  wait,  so  I  lost 
it." 

"I  know  where  your  pocketbook  is, 
mamma!"  cried  the  Angel  Child.  "I  was 
playing  fisherman  at  the  bathroom  window, 
and  I  had  it  tied  to  the  end  of  my  line  for  a 
fish,  and  so " 

"Good  gracious,  where  is  it  now?"  wailed 
the  Matron.  "Tell  me  this  minute,  what  you 
did  with  it  afterwards!" 

"Oh,  it  is  all  right,  mamma.  I  caught  my 
fish  and  threw  it  into  water  to  keep  fresh,  like 
117 


The  Very  Young  Man 

papa  does,  when  he  comes  home  from  a  fish 
ing  trip.  You  needn't  worry  about  it,  mamma ; 
it  is  made  out  of  alligator  skin,  and  alligators 
live  in  the  water,  you  know.  Oh,  dear,  I 
think  little  boys  have  a  dreadful  time,  when 
everything  that  is  really  nice  is  naughty!  I 
think  I  will  go  down  to  see  Mr.  Sweeting 
awhile  now.  He  seems  to  sympathize  with  me 
a  great  deal,  now  that  Dolly  is  such  a  friend 
of  mine." 

"By  the  way,  what  has  become  of  our  friend, 
Mr.  Sweeting?"  queried  the  Matron.  "I  have 
not  seen  him  to-day,  which  is  remarkable, 
since  I  usually  have  to  remove  Edward  forci 
bly  from  his  presence,  at  least  twice  a  day." 

"Mr.  Sweeting  is  at  present  employed  in 
the  laudable  occupation  of  preparing  to  make 
a  name  for  himself,  evidently  with  the  gener 
ous  intention  of  bestowing  it  upon  some  one 
else,"  replied  Tracy.  "He  began  this  some 
what  herculean  task  at  precisely  four  minutes 
to  six,  yesterday  afternoon.  I  think  by  this 
time  he  must  have  read  and  digested  the  greater 
portion  of  the  works  in  his  by  no  means  in- 


And  the  Angel  Child 

considerable  library.  He  informs  me  that 
hereafter  he  will  be  unable  to  mingle  with  the 
madding  crowd,  in  consequence  of  this  toil. 
It  appears  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  walk 
between  the  hours  of  four  and  six  each  after 
noon,  he  will  devote  himself  unremittingly  to 
a  life  of  honest  toil.  When  I  left  him  a  short 
time  ago,  he  was  busily  engaged  in  figuring  on 
a  slip  of  paper  the  exact  amount  a  man  would 
be  obliged  to  earn  each  year  in  order  to  keep 
a  house  in  town  during  the  winter,  and  a 
cottage  by  the  sea,  in  summer,  with  an  occa 
sional  trip  abroad  for  two  persons.  From  his 
facial  expression,  I  gathered  that  he  was  not 
pleased  with  the  result  of  his  calculations." 

"Why,  you  go  for  a  walk  between  four  and 
six,  each  afternoon,  don't  you,  Dolly?"  asked 
Miss  Adams,  suddenly. 

"I — er — that  is,  sometimes,"  faltered  Dolly; 
"a  great  many  people  go  out  at  that  time,  you 
know." 

"A  great  many,"  said  Evelyn,  quietly.  "It 
is  evident  that  you  and  Mr.  Sweeting  succeeded 
in  finding  Edward  last  evening,  Dolly.  You 
M9 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Man 

both  seemed  a  good  deal  agitated  about  his 
disappearance,  when  I  passed  you  in  the  park 
— so  much  so,  indeed,  that  I  did  not  even 
stop  to  speak  to  you." 

Dolly  flushed  scarlet,  to  the  tips  of  her  pretty 
ears.  "Oh,  Mrs.  Wycoff,  he  is  quite  safe!" 
she  cried.  "We  found  him  eventually;  indeed 
we  did!" 

"I  am  quite  well  aware  of  that  fact,  my 
dear,"  smiled  the  Matron.  "It  may  after  all 
be  merely  the  candy  he  ate,  and  not  a  forth 
coming  illness,  which  has  made  him  so  thought 
ful  to-day.  Did  you  lose  him,  or  did  he  lose 
you?" 

"I — well,  you  see,  it  was  this  way:  I  took 
him  to  feed  the  bears  in  the  park,  as  you  know, 
and  oddly  enough,  we  happened  to  meet  Mr. 
Sweeting  there.  He  joined  us,  and  we  were 
just  talking  on  some  ordinary  subject " 

"Such  as  the  duty  of  a  young  man  to  make 
a  name  for  himself,"  suggested  Tracy,  with 
great  gravity. 

"I — I  don't  recollect  exactly  what  it  was; 
but  I  suddenly  remembered  that  it  was  time 
J20 


And  the  Angel  Child 

to  go  home,  and  Edward  was  nowhere  to  be 
found.  Mr.  Sweeting  wanted  to  bring  me 
home  and  go  back  to  look  for  him,  but  I  said 
that  I  wouldn't  come  home  to  a  warm,  com 
fortable  room,  while  that  darling  child  was  out 
in  the  cold,  and  hungry  too,  perhaps.  So  we 
hunted  everywhere,  and  the  people  of  whom 
we  made  enquiries  concerning  him,  kept  us  so 
long,  while  they  dilated  on  our  carelessness, 
that  it  took  us  much  longer  than  necessary. 
One  old  gentleman  said  that  we  ought  to  be 
reported  to  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Children !" 

"He  evidently  did  not  know  Edward's  power 
of  resource,"  said  the  Matron,  soothingly. 
"But  where  did  you  find  him  ?" 

"Quite  at  the  other  end  of  the  park.  He  was 
talking  to  the  very  tallest  policeman  I  ever  saw. 
He  was  telling  him  that  he  did  not  know  why 
grown  people  would  not  let  little  boys  do  as 
they  wanted,  because  they  were  always  good 
when  they  were  amused.  He  had  been  riding 
in  a  pony  cart,  and  he  had  a  large  paper  of 
buttered  popcorn,  a  package  of  chocolates  and 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Ma.n 

an  orange.     I  am  afraid  that  he  was  not  really 
very  glad  to  see  us." 

"Why,  Dolly  Watterson,  to  think  you  never 
said  a  word  to  me  about  it — and  I  thought 
you  told  me  everything!"  cried  Belinda. 

"I — I  didn't  want  to  worry  you,  dear," 
Dolly  faltered.  "And  then,  you  see,  I  knew 
you  would  feel  it  your  duty  to  scold  me  for  my 
carelessness,  if  I  told  you.  So  I  merely,  as 
you  remember,  said  I  had  a  headache,  for  I 
felt  that  I  really  needed  a  little  coddling,  after 
my  fright." 

"After  all,  you  seem  to  have  been  the  victim, 
rather  than  the  culprit.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  it 
was  all  the  fault  of  Mr.  Sweeting!"  Belinda 
said. 

"The  way  of  the  victim  is  usually  a  great 
deal  harder  than  that  of  the  transgressor,"  re 
marked  the  Philosopher.  "Take  my  advice, 
Miss  Watterson,  and  never,  never  blame  your 
self  publicly  for  anything,  hereafter.  You 
will  always  find  some  one  else  ready  and  will 
ing  to  take  that  part  off  your  hands — and  do 
the  job  thoroughly,  too." 
J22 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Yes,  even  the  most  niggardly  person  is 
generous  in  the  matter  of  criticism,"  sighed 
Tracy.  "It  is  a  thing  which  no  one,  not  even 
a  rich  relation,  hesitates  to  give  freely.  Which 
is  singular,  since  he  regards  his  own  opinion 
as  a  thing  of  value,"  he  added,  thoughtfully. 

"The  power  of  self-appreciation  is  a  singu 
lar  thing,"  observed  the  Philosopher.  "I  have 
known  men  who  expected  their  wives  to  be 
grateful  for  the  gift  of  a  new  cook-book." 

"Oh,  that  is  nothing ;  I  have  known  a  pretty 
girl  to  expect  a  homely  one  to  be  overwhelmed 
with  gratitude  when  she  gave  her  her  photo 
graph,  unasked,"  said  Evelyn.  "And  when 
that  photograph  was  a  flattered  one,  too,"  she 
added. 

The  Philosopher  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
"At  any  rate,  your  pretty  girl  had  a  touching 
belief  in  human  nature.  A  belief  which  is, 
in  this  case,  no  more  justified  than  is  that  of 
the  amateur  author  who  presents  copies  of  his 
book,  with  the  leaves  uncut,  to  all  his  friends." 

"Knowing  well  that  his  enemies  will  buy  it 
for  themselves,  eh  ?"  Tracy  smiled.  "After  all, 
J23 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

why  should  not  your  true  idealist  begin  by 
idealizing  himself?  Amiable  persons  are 
much  more  agreeable  than  unamiable  ones — 
and  to  be  really  amiable,  one  must  be  at  least 
fairly  well  satisfied  with  himself." 

"Some  people  are  unfairly  satisfied  with 
themselves,"  remarked  Evelyn.  "Still,  I  admit 
that  self-satisfied  people  are  much  pleasanter 
to  know  intimately  than  candid  ones." 

"Since  being  candid  usually  means  being 
ill-natured,"  agreed  Tracy.  "Well,  a  little 
tactful  dissimulation  is  not  always  a  bad  thing, 
in  its  way.  If  there  was  no  such  thing,  there 
would  be  fewer  good  hostesses  than  there 
are." 

"I  have  often  wondered  just  where,  in  agree 
able  conversation,  the  compliment  leaves  off 
and  the  lie  begins,"  observed  the  Matron.  "I 
can't  say,  however,  that  I  am  ever  moved  to 
consider  this  view  of  the  question,  when  the 
compliment  is  paid  to  myself!" 

"People  usually  mean  unpleasant  things 
when  they  give  speech  to  them;  why  not  the 


J24 


And  the  Angel  Child 

pleasant  ones,  as  well?"  said  the  Philosopher, 
benignly. 

"It  is  evident  that  you  were  never  a  woman, 
Mr.  Hardy,"  replied  Evelyn.  "But,  Belinda, 
do  I  understand  that  you  and  Dolly  mean  to 
devote  yourselves  to  dirty  little  boys,  when 
thre  are  so  many  really  interesting  things  in 
the  world,  such  as " 

"Teas  and  clubs  and  millinery,  I  suppose  you 
mean!  Yes,  we  do;  and  in  their  appreciation 
we  shall  build  ourselves  a  monument 
which " 

"It  hardly  seems  to  me  that  you  and  Dolly 
will  require  a  monument  for  some  time,  dear. 
At  least  people  seldom  turn  their  thoughts  to 
wards  philanthropy  until  after  they  have  lost 
their  complexions." 

"Philanthropy  is  not  a  matter  of  complexion, 
but  of  hearts,"  said  Dolly.  "I — I  don't  know 
that  I  should  have  turned  towards  anything 
with  such  a  long  name,  but  for  Belinda.  I 
fear  that  I  am  a  very  commonplace  person." 

"You  are  anything  but  commonplace,  Dolly 
Watterson,"  cried  the  Matron.  "Why,  I  ac- 


The  Very  Young  Man 

tually  believe  that  you  are  quite  sure  that  other 
people  know  as  much  as  you  do.  And  I'd  like 
to  know  what  could  prove  greater  originality 
than  that?" 

"Talking  of  originality,  I  know  a  man  who 
actually  takes  flowers  home  to  his  own  wife," 
said  Tracy ;  "he  is  quite  sane,  so  I  conclude  that 
he  is  merely  original." 

"Perhaps  his  mother-in-law  wants  him  to 
save  money,"  suggested  Evelyn.  "He  must 
have  some  motive  for  such  recklessness,  you 
know." 

"I  notice  that  the  man  who  is  most  prodigal 
of  gifts  during  courtship,  is  the  one  who  is 
most  unpleasant  over  his  wife's  bills  after 
wards,"  said  Miss  Adams,  cheerfully. 

"There  is  such  a  difference  between  volun 
tary  offering  and  taxation  without  representa 
tion,"  observed  Tracy,  modestly. 

"You  have  had  new  locks  put  on  the  door, 
haven't  you,  Miss  Manly?"  asked  the  Matron, 
suddenly  turning  the  conversation. 

"We  have,"  replied  Belinda;  "and  they  are 
so  complicated  that  we  might  almost  as  well 
J26 


And  the  Angel  Child 

be  in  jail — it  is  so  difficult  to  unfasten  them. 
Sometimes  we  are  afraid  that  we  may  be  im 
mured,  like  the  unhappy  ladies  who  differed 
with  their  families  in  politics  or  love,  during 
the  Middle  Ages.  I  suppose,  however,  if  the 
worst  happened,  we  could  be  fed  through  the 
keyhole,  until  they  sent  for  a  really  experienced 
burglar  to  get  us  out." 

"At  any  rate,  you  would  not  be  as  badly 
off  as  the  Hibernian  gentleman  who,  on  being 
locked  in  his  own  safe,  called  for  a  light  that  he 
might  see  to  get  out,"  said  Tracy. 

"Nor  yet  as  badly  off  as  the  gentleman  who 
expects  to  be  hanged  in  a  few  hours,"  retorted 
Belinda.  "Still,  I  fancy  that  we  should  be 
sufficiently  uncomfortable.  However,  I  think 
that " 

"Mr.  Sweeting  would  be  only  too  glad  to 
fly  to  your  rescue?  I  am  sure  of  it." 

"I  meant  Mr.  Rafferty,"  said  Belinda,  with 
great  dignity.  "He  will  make  the  more  effort, 
since  we  have  promised  him  to  tell  the  agent 
that  he  really  needs  an  assistant." 

"Who,  since  his  salary  is  smaller,  will  have 


The  Very  Young 

things  evened  up  by  being  given  the  greater 
part  of  the  work  to  do,"  remarked  the  Philoso 
pher.  "Rest  easy,  Miss  Manly;  you  are  in  no 
danger  of  being  obliged  to  waste  your  youth 
immured  in  a  locked  flat.  Heaven  may  help 
those  who  help  themselves ;  but  Man  helps  those 
who  help  him,  in  return." 

"I  guess  it's  a  good  thing  you  have  plenty  of 
locks  on  your  doors,  Dolly,"  said  the  Angel 
Child,  suddenly.  "Yes,  I  came  back  a  few 
minutes  ago.  Mr.  Sweeting  was  too  busy  to 
be  entertaining,  anyhow,  and  he  said  he  thought 
I  had  better  go  home,  so  I  took  the  hint  and 
went  down  to  see  Mrs.  Rafferty.  I  like  Mrs. 
Rafferty;  she  makes  such  good  doughnuts  that 
I  am  sure  she  is  a  very  good  woman.  Mr. 
Rafferty  was  there,  too;  I  guess  he  must  like 
doughnuts,  for  after  I  had  eaten  a  good  many, 
he  said  he  was  afraid  you  would  be  uneasy 
about  me,  mamma.  And  he  says  I  must  not 
scare  the  ladies,  but  I  had  better  tell  them  that 
there  are  thieves  around." 

"Oh,  my  goodness,"  wailed  Miss  Adams ;  "I 
knew  that  would  be  the  way  of  it.  Just  when 


And  the  Angel  Child 

I  have  borrowed  my  sister's  silver  teapot,  too. 
I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  afford  one  for  myself, 
and  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  cannot  afford  to  re 
place  hers,  if  it  is  stolen !" 

"And  my  new  hat  is  not  paid  for !"  moaned 
the  Matron.  "I  suppose  they  would  expect  the 
money  for  it,  even  if  the  hat  was  stolen — people 
in  trade  are  so  selfish!" 

"How  does  Mr.  Rafferty  know  that  thieves 
are  about?"  demanded  Belinda.  "And  why 
did  he  let  them  come  about?  I  shall  speak  to 
the  agent,  if " 

"He  says  the  policeman  on  the  beat  told  him 
he  saw  a  young  sneak  thief  come  out  of  the 
building  this  morning,"  observed  the  Angel 
Child,  with  relish.  "He  was  too  busy  to  do 
anything  himself — he  was  watching  a  dog 
fight,  for  fear  the  dogs  might  bite  somebody; 
but  he  thought  Mr.  Rafferty  ought  to  know. 
And  Mr.  Rafferty  says  that  he  was  hired  to  be 
janitor  and  not  policeman,  and  he  doesn't  want 
to  be  killed,  so  he  won't  hunt  burglars  for  any 
body  except  Mr.  Sweeting  and  Mr.  Tracy,  be 
cause  they  pay  him  well.  He  believes  that 
J29 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

Miss  Adams  would  let  him  be  killed  twenty 
times  and  then  give  him  a  nickel  for  his  trou 
ble." 

"Well,  I  must  go  right  upstairs,"  said  the 
Matron.  "I  shall  pound  on  the  floor,  if  I  need 
assistance.  This  seems  to  be  my  unlucky  day, 
so  I  suppose  that  the  thieves  have  already  been 
through  my  flat.  It  will  be  just  my  luck  if 
they  have  taken  all  of  Harold's  things  and  left 
my  own,  so  that  he  will  be  obliged  to  get  a  lot 
of  new  ones,  while  I  wear  my  old  ones  that 
much  longer  to  make  up  for  the  expense.  Be 
fore  I  go,  I  wish  you  would  let  me  see  that  pipe 
rack  of  yours,  Miss  Manly.  I  want  to  be  sure 
that  the  one  I  might  have  bought  is  just  like  it, 
in  case  the  boy  comes  back  with  it." 

"Why,  certainly ;  it  is  in  its  usual  place  over 
there — why,  no  it  isn't!  Dolly  Watterson, 
what  have  you  done  with  my  pipe  rack?" 

"I  haven't  touched  it,  dear.  It  was  there 
when " 

"You  need  not  look  for  it,  Miss  Manly," 
said  the  Philosopher,  calmly.  "And  you,  Mrs. 
Wycoff,  will  never  have  another  chance  to  buy 
J30 


And  the  Angel  Child 

one  for  a  dollar.  Miss  Manly  has  evidently 
implanted  such  a  love  for  Art  in  the  breast  of 
her  young  protege,  that " 

"Oh,  my  goodness,"  cried  the  Matron;  "it 
was  your  pipe  rack  that  the  little  wretch  of 
fered  to  me,  and  I " 

"His  eyes  are  evidently  his  fortune,"  re 
marked  Tracy.  "Well,  philanthropy,  like 
virtue,  is  ever  its  own  reward.  I  fancy  that 
you  need  not  prepare  for  your  class  in  art  in 
struction  to-morrow  evening,  Miss  Manly." 

But  Belinda  made  no  reply.  She  was  look 
ing  helplessly  at  the  bare  spot  on  the  wall  where 
her  treasure  had  been  wont  to  hang. 


Chapter  VII 

"WHAT  is  your  definition  of  an  optimist?" 
queried  the  Matron. 

"An  optimist  is  a  person  who  has  just  eaten 
a  good  dinner,"  replied  the  Philosopher,  stir 
ring  his  tea. 

"Or  a  girl  who  is  wearing  for  the  first  time  a 
really  successful  gown,"  observed  Evelyn. 

"I  should  say  that  the  widow  who  marries 
for  the  second  time,  is  a  much  better  exponent 
of  optimism  than  either  of  the  persons  you  have 
mentioned,"  remarked  Miss  Adams,  with  the 
manner  of  one  who  casts  a  bomb  into  the  air. 

"And  there  is  the  lady  who  tints  her  peachy 
cheeks  in  a  dim  light,  and  then  ventures  into 
a  strong  one,"  suggested  Tracy. 

"Not  to  mention  the  man  who  expects  to  es 
tablish  a  reputation  for  wit  by  telling  a  mother- 
in-law  joke  at  an  afternoon  tea,"  said  Mae, 
dreamily. 

J33 


The  Very  Young 

"Nonsense;  your  true  optimist  is  the  indi 
vidual  who  expects  his  acquaintances  to  speak 
well  of  him  behind  his  back,"  cried  Belinda, 
blithely. 

"Are  there  really  such  benighted  persons?" 
Tracy  asked.  "If  so,  they  are  living  exponents 
of  the  triumph  of  hope  over  experience.  But 
why  this  startling  question,  dear  lady?" 

The  Matron  hesitated.  "I — I  met  an  old 
sweetheart  of  my  husband,  yesterday.  She 
paid  me  some  very  nice  compliments,  and 

"Oh,  you  poor  thing!  And  you  thought 
you  were  '  becoming  pessimistic,  just  because 
you  doubted  their  sincerity,  didn't  you?"  cried 
Evelyn.  "Well,  if  you  had  believed  them,  you 
would  have  been  a  true  optimist,  that's  all ! 
I  have  a  married  sister  who  is  in  danger  of 
accumulating  too  much  flesh.  Every  time  she 
weighs  over  a  certain  amount,  she  packs  her 
trunks  and  goes  to  visit  the  woman  who  used 
to  be  engaged  to  her  husband,  before  she  knew 
him.  After  she  comes  away,  she  frets  her 
self  quite  thin  over  stories  her  hostess  has  told 
her  concerning  the  devotion  expressed  for  her 
J34 


And  the  Angel  Child 

in  former  years  by  a  broken-hearted  lover, 
whose  name  is  never  mentioned.  She  is  afraid 
it  might  have  been  Dick,  you  know." 

"But  why  on  earth  doesn't  she  ask  him,  once 
for  all,  and  so  set  her  mind  at  rest?"  queried 
the  Philosopher,  looking  mystified. 

"She  couldn't  be  sure  whether  he  told  the 
truth,  if  he  said  it  was  somebody  else,  or 
whether  he  had  merely  forgotten.  In  the  latter 
case,  she  is  sure  that  he  would  forget  all  about 
her,  within  six  months,  if  she  happened  to  die 
first.  I've  known  her  to  lose  twenty  pounds 
over  that  one  aspect  of  the  case  alone." 

"But  she  might  fret  herself  into  an  untimely 
grave,  if  she  allows  a  thing  like  that  to  take 
hold  of  her,"  said  the  Philosopher. 

"H'm,  so  she  might — if  she  hadn't  other 
things  to  console  her.  You  see,  she  makes  re 
turn  confidences,  by  telling  how  Dick  gave  her 
a  peck  of  locks  of  hair,  of  various  shades,  to 
make  a  sofa  pillow  out  of,  after  they  were 
married,  and  what  a  quantity  of  photographs 
of  girls,  taken  in  the  style  of  ten  years  ago,  she 
found  in  his  bureau  drawer.  She  adds  that 
J35 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

she  fears  he  was  a  sad  flirt,  and  must  have 
broken  a  great  many  hearts  before  he  found  a 
girl  whom  he  could  really  love.  I  think  the 
old  sweetheart  loses  some  flesh  too,  after  one 
of  Kathleen's  visits." 

Tracy  shuddered.  "Give  me  another  cup 
of  tea,  if  you  please,  Miss  Watterson,  and  pray 
put  plenty  of  sugar  in  it,  for  I  feel  faint.  Be 
fore  long,  I  shall  be  asking  the  exact  defini 
tion  of  a  cynic,  in  the  fear  that  it  correctly 
diagnoses  my  own  case." 

"Cynicism  is  the  refuge  of  the  morally  des 
titute,  who  prefer  to  take  their  own  vices  as  a 
standard,  rather  than  the  virtues  of  others," 
said  the  Philosopher,  gravely.  "Whatever 
you  do,  my  dear  fellow,  never  descend  to  cheap 
cynicism." 

"Is  cynicism  cheap?"  queried  Tracy.  "To 
me,  it  always  seems  dearly  bought  with  the 
loss  of  faith,  which  allows  one  no  longer  to  be 
a  depositor  in  the  bank  of  Hope.  However, 
few  people  have  sympathy  for  either  deafness 
or  cynicism,  unles  they  happen  to  suffer  from 
them  personally." 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"I  suppose  not;  but  then  nothing  is  more 
soothing  than  the  contemplation  of  the  weak 
nesses  of  others,"  mused  the  Philosopher. 
"The  mere  thought  of  them  is  sufficient  to 
create  such  a  pleasant  glow  of  conscious  virtue, 
that  one  would  be  polite  even  to  a  bill  collec 
tor." 

"Yes;  I  know  that.  I  can  quite  forgive 
Anne's  expensive  gowns,  when  I  remember 
that  she  buys  her  complexion  at  the  same  shop," 
remarked  Evelyn.  "And,  then,  poor  dear,  she 
really  needs  some  excuse  for  her  vanity !" 

"Odd,  isn't  it  ?  that  vanity  only  exists  in  the 
third  person,"  the  Philosopher  murmured  to 
the  Matron.  "In  the  first  person,  its  place  is 
taken  by  self-respect;  in  the  second  by  polite 
ness.  Ah,  well,  the  absent  are  able  to  bear 
all  things  with  fortitude." 

"And  we  wouldn't  be  half  as  nice  to  unpleas 
ant  people  when  we  meet  them,  if  we  were  not 
guiltily  conscious  of  the  things  we  have  said  be 
hind  their  backs,"  the  Matron  retorted. 

Dolly's  face  was  very  pink,  and  her  hands 
trembled  as  she  moved  them  among  her  tea- 
J37 


The  Very  Young  Man 

cups.  "Oh,  dear,  you  are  very  witty,"  she 
sighed;  "but  need  one  be  unkind  in  order  to 
be  clever  ?" 

"Console  yourself,  my  dear  young  lady," 
said  the  Philosopher,  gayly;  "the  absent  are 
quite  accustomed  to  being  in  the  wrong.  Be 
sides  which,  they  have  their  own  point  of  view 
for  consolation.  People  who  expect  others  to 
share  equally  their  own  opinion  of  themselves, 
are  no  longer  optimists — they  are  egotists." 

"And  the  egotist  really  needs  very  little  sym 
pathy,"  added  the  Matron. 

"Very  little  from  the  common  herd;  since 
he  is  always  sure  of  plenty  from  the  person 
he  loves  best,"  agreed  the  Philosopher.  "The 
airs  of  Arcady  are  still  blowing  for  you,  Miss 
Dolly ;  the  best  wish  I  can  offer  you  is  that  they 
may  never  cease  to  blow." 

"I  see  that  you  are  coming  out  strong  in 
the  role  of  first-aid-to-the-wounded  illusions, 
Hardy,"  said  Tracy;  "a  fact  which  proves  that 
no  philosopher  took  his  own  medicine  without 
a  wry  face." 

"Speaking  of  optimism,  I  wonder  why  peo- 
J38 


And  the  Angel  Child 

pie  will  insist  upon  having  big  weddings  and 
inviting  a  lot  of  people  who  do  not  want  to 
go!"  remarked  Evelyn,  suddenly.  "I  suppose 
that  no  one  is  ever  really  interested  in  the 
wedding  of  anybody  else — except,  of  course, 
the  florist  and  the  caterer;  and  yet  even  the 
most  sensible  people  will  ask  you " 

"Do  the  most  sensible  people  marry?" 
queried  Tracy,  with  lifted  brows,  "Really, 
now,  I  never  should  have  thought  it." 

"Ah,  well,  it  is  sometimes  involuntary,"  re 
plied  Evelyn,  soothingly;  "they  say  that  it  takes 
two  to  make  a  match,  but " 

"I  think  that  is  a  quarrel,  isn't  it?"  said 
Dolly,  innocently. 

"Or  a  series  of  them — it  is  all  the  same,  dear. 
However,  the  two  in  this  case  may  be  the  bride 
and  her  mother." 

"Or  the  bridegroom  and  her  wealthy  grand 
father,"  said  Mae,  dreamily. 

"Oh,  yes,  of  course.     Where  was  I?     Oh! 

And  yet,  even  the  most  sensible  girl  will  ask 

you  to  her  wedding  and  expect  you  to  be  as 

much  interested  in  it  as  she  is — besides  giving 

J39 


The  Very  Young 

her  a  handsome  present,  which  is  enough  to 
take  the  interest  out  of  anything.  In  the  case 
of  the  bridesmaids,  it  is  all  right;  they  must 
expect  to  pay  some  price  for  the  fun  they  get 
out  of  their  new  gowns  and  the  anguish  of 
the  bridegroom.  I  was  maid  of  honor  at  a 
big  wedding  in  the  country  last  week."  She 
sighed  at  the  recollection.  "I  rather  enjoyed 
it,  because  Suzanne  asked  me  instead  of  Irene, 
who  had  fully  expected  it.  Somehow  the 
bloom  was  taken  off  it,  the  day  after  I  got 
back.  I  went  to  see  Irene  and  tell  her  all  about 
it.  I  wish  now  that  I  had  stayed  at  home." 

"Irene's  visitors  usually  do,"  remarked  Mae. 
"Did  she  tell  you  of  how  she  once  went  shop 
ping  in  Paris  ?  Or  what  a  rough  passage  they 
had  in  crossing?  Or " 

"Their  experiences  in  the  Custom  House? 
No,  for  a  wonder,  she  didn't.  She  listened 
to  my  story,  and  then  she  said,  'So  you  went 
to  dear  Suzanne's  wedding,  did  you?  I  re 
member  hearing  that  you  were  to — to  give  her 
away  or  something  like  that.'  Oh,  you  needn't 
laugh,  Mr.  Tracy;  I  didn't,  I  assure  you." 
J40 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"But  you  stayed  a  long  time,"  said  Mae,  ex 
pectantly  ;  "so  it  stands  to  reason  that  you  must 
have  said  something  to  her,  in  return." 

"Not  that  time,  dear.  I  went  to  see  her 
maiden  aunt  that  same  afternoon.  We  talked 
a  good  deal  about  Irene." 

"H'm,"  said  the  Matron ;  "and  maiden  aunts 
and  undertakers  never  flatter." 

"Very  true.  I  am  going  to  see  the  dear  girl 
one  day  next  week,  and  I  shall  take  Tom  Clip 
per  with  me,  just  to  show  that  I  bear  no 
malice !" 

"You  will  not  need  to — when  you  come 
away,"  smiled  Mae. 

"Thank  you,  dear;  your  faith  in  me  is  very 
pleasant  and  I  will  do  my  best,  in  this  case,  to 
deserve  it." 

"Somehow,  I  can't  help  pitying  Miss  Irene," 
said  Tracy;  "to  know  unpleasant  facts  con 
cerning  one's  self  is  one  thing — to  have  one's 
dear  friends  refer  to  them  is  another." 

"People  who  live  in  glass  houses  should 
eschew  all  stones,  save  the  philosopher's  one," 


The  Very  Young 

remarked    Evelyn.     "Somehow,    I    am    quite 
looking  forward  to  next  week." 

"You  are  unusually  silent  to-day,  dear  lady," 
observed  the  Philosopher  to  the  Matron.  "I 
nope  that  your  son  and  heir  is  not  lost  again." 

"He  is  not.  He  is  at  the  present  moment 
with  Mr.  Sweeting,  who  is  far  too  polite  to  tell 
me  the  half  that  occurs  during  the  interview. 
In  consequence,  I  am  quite  comfortable  about 
the  dear  child.  However,  I  have  griefs  of  my 
own ; — I  got  a  bundle  of  proofs  from  the  pho 
tographer  this  morning." 

"Ah — h.  There  are  some  negatives,  two  of 
which  are  not  equal  to  an  affirmative — of  one's 
own  opinion,"  sighed  the  Philosopher.  "I  feel 
for  you ;  indeed  I  do.  I,  too,  have  visited  the 
photographer  recently.  I  suppose  that  the 
camera  might  not  justly  be  called  an  infernal 
machine,  and  yet  it  can  blow  one's  vanity  into 
infinitesimal  bits,  if  it  gets  the  chance." 

"Ah,  yes;  the  truth  about  one's  self  is  mostly 
unpleasant.     However,  it  is  an  ill  wind  that 
blows  nobody  fair.     The  contents  of  the  pho 
tographer's  envelope  make  me  feel  very 
J42 


And  the  Angel  Child 

ful  to  my  husband  for  marrying  me — so  much 
so  indeed,  that  I  have  suggested  to  him  that  he 
select  his  new  set  of  shirts  himself." 

"Ah,  then,  you  are  surely  even  with  him — 
and  none  of  your  friends  will  see  the  photo 
graphs  while  they  are  recognizable,"  said  the 
Philosopher,  consolingly.  "Things  are  never 
quite  as  bad  as  they  might  be,  you  know." 

"True.  I  might,  for  instance,  have  been  a 
t\yin.  Think  of  having  to  see  in  a  strong  light, 
the  sister  who  was  constantly  mistaken  for  me, 
when  she  had  eaten  rarebit  the  night  before, 
or  was  wearing  an  unbecoming  gown." 

"That  would,  indeed,  be  tragic;  worse  than 
coming  suddenly  face  to  face  with  yourself  in 
a  strange  mirror,"  said  Evelyn.  "Strange, 
isn't  it?  how  much  better  one  always  looks  in 
the  mirror  of  one's  own  selecting." 

"Oh,  well,  mirrors,  like  figures,  never  lie — 
but  they  sometimes  prevaricate,"  Mae  said. 

"Prevarication  is  the  life  of  mutual  admira 
tion,"  remarked  Tracy.  "It  seems  to  me,  that 
the  man  who  manufactures  mirrors  which 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

really  flatter,  must  be  a  philanthropist,  at 
heart." 

"No,  merely  a  good  business  man,"  spoke 
Mae.  "Well,  our  relatives  can  always  be  de 
pended  on  to  tell  us  the  truth,  and  more,  con 
cerning  our  personal  appearance.  Let  us  insist 
upon  having  mirrors  which  tell  less.  I  once 
knew  a  woman  who  had  decided  to  have  a 
divorce,  when  some  one  gave  her  a  Psyche 
mirror,  which  flattered  like — well,  like  an  army 
officer.  When  she  looked  into  it  for  the  first 
time,  she  felt  so  sorry  for  the  man  who  was 
about  to  lose  her,  that  she  decided  to  forgive 
him  all.  He  has  now  taken  her  abroad,  so  I 
am  sure  that  she,  at  least,  is  happy." 

"I  suppose  that  the  woman  who  goes  abroad 
for  the  first  time,  is  happy  even  when  she  is 
seasick,"  mused  Tracy.  "It  is  her  friends  who 
are  unhappy  when  she  comes  back  and  tells 
them  all  about  it." 

"Not  when  she  mentions  the  seasickness," 
Evelyn  cried.  "It  does  seem  sometimes  that 
there  are  compensations  in  all  things." 

"I  am  sure  that  there  are  no  compensations, 


And  the  Angel  Child 

after  a  burglary;"  it  was,  of  course,  Miss 
Adams  who  spoke. 

"Well,  there  is  at  any  rate,  the  consolation 
of  telling  your  friends  the  value,  set  by  your 
self,  of  the  stolen  articles,"  said  the  Philoso 
pher.  "Odd,  is  it  not?  how  differently  we 
value  our  possessions  to  our  friends  and  the 
tax  collector!" 

"At  any  rate,  the  tax  collector  is  never  a 
friend,"  said  the  Matron.  "By  the  way,  I  once 
knew  a  young  couple  whose  friends  furnished 
a  flat  for  them  while  they  were  absent  on  their 
wedding  journey." 

"Which  was  very  agreeable  of  the  friends," 
commented  Tracy. 

"That  is  a  matter  of  opinion — you  never  saw 
the  furniture.  I  did.  You  see,  her  friends 
thought  his  friends  a  lot  of  meddlers,  who 
should  have  sent  checks  instead  of  articles  of 
furniture,  and  his  friends  thought  hers  a  grasp 
ing  set,  so  they  did  not  agree  very  well.  In 
consequence,  that  flat  looked  a  very  pleasant 
place  in  which  to  die,  when  the  bridal  pair  came 
into  it.  You  must  imagine  what  the  result 
H5 


The  Very  Yo\mg  Ma.n 

would  be  when  twenty-nine  different  people 
sent  various  articles  of  furniture,  and  carpets, 
and  hangings  of  varying  colors!  My  powers 
of  description  are  not  equal  to  the  job  of  tell 
ing  you  all  about  it.  The  worst  of  it  all  was, 
that  the  rich  old  uncle  who  was  expected  to  do 
the  most,  merely  gave  a  fire  insurance  policy. 
I  pitied  them  both,  but  I  pitied  the  bride  most !" 

"Yes,  the  husband  could  go  out  to  his  work: 
every  day,"  said  Belinda. 

"H'm,  and  then  she  had  to  write  all  the  nice 
little  notes  of  thanks — a  job  from  which 
Ananias  might  reasonably  have  shrunk.  Well, 
she  grew  pale  and  thin,  and  he  had  a  furtive, 
hurried  look,  as  if  he  was  contemplating  suicide 
or  the  raising  of  a  beard,  you  know.  It  was 
no  use  to  go  to  see  them,  they  were  never  at 
home ;  the  furniture  preyed  on  them  too  much. 
Finally,  there  was  a  fire  in  their  apartment 
building,  and  they  barely  escaped  with  their 
lives  and  the  insurance  policy.  Now  they  have 
furnished  a  flat  to  their  own  taste,  without  even 
a  sofa  pillow  which  was  contributed,  for  their 
friends  each  felt  that  his  or  her  particular  gift 
J46 


And  the  Angel  Child 

should  have  been  saved  from  the  flames,  and 
was  offended,  in  consequence.  And  now  I 
don't  know  a  happier  or  more  domestic  couple 
anywhere,"  she  added,  breathlessly. 

"But  then  there  are  always  birthday  and 
Christmas  gifts  to  fear,"  sighed  Mae. 

"Oh,  pshaw,  you  can  always  tell  the  givers 
of  them  that  you  have  put  them  away  where 
they  will  not  become  soiled — and  my  poor  ac 
quaintance  could  not  put  away  peacock  blue 
couches  and  purple  easy-chairs  to  keep  clean, 
you  know." 

"I  think  I  shall  preserve  your  remarks  in  the 
cedar  chest  of  memory,"  said  the  Philosopher, 
thoughtfully.  "I,  too,  sometimes  give  wed 
ding  presents." 

"Most  people  do,"  sighed  Evelyn.  "A 
friend  of  mine  was  married,  not  long  ago,  and 
she  received  six  French  clocks  and  ten  bronze 
mantel  ornaments,  while  there  is  just  one 
mantelpiece  in  the  flat  she  has  taken.  She 
has,  however,  a  lovely  disposition,  and  she  says 
she  hopes,  in  time,  to  be  able  to  forgive  all  the 
givers." 

H7 


"Dear  me,"  mused  the  Philosopher ;  "the  ex 
cess  of  female  population  in  the  world  is  a  very 
good  thing,  after  all.  There  are  fewer  men 
to  make  mistakes  and " 

"More  women  to  criticise  them,  when  they 
do,"  finished  Tracy,  gloomily.  "What  a  bless 
ing  that  most  of  us  are  content  to  please  our 
selves  !" 

"Papa  say  it  is  very  well  seen  that  you  are 
not  a  married  man,  Mr.  Tracy,"  said  the  Angel 
Child,  who  had  just  made  his  appearance  with 
the  Very  Young  Man.  "He  and  I  have  to  try 
to  please  mamma,  you  know.  I  had  to  come 
here  now,  mamma,  because  Mr.  Sweeting  was 
coming,  and  he  didn't  seem  very  anxious  to 
leave  me  in  his  room  alone.  I  wanted  him  to 
take  me  for  a  nice  long  walk — he  told  Dolly, 
the  other  day,  that  I  didn't  get  enough  exercise 
— that  was  when  he  wanted  her  to  help  him 
take  me  to  see  the  people  skating  in  the  park. 
He  wouldn't  go  to-day,  though,  because  he  had 
a  lot  of  work  to  do,  and  hadn't  time.  I  don't 
see  how  he  had  time  to  come  here  then,  do 
you  ?  And  he  has  been  writing  something  that 
J43 


And  the  Angel  Child 

looks  like  poetry,  on  the  margin  of  the  page 
in  that  big  book  he  has  held  so  long  without 
turning  a  leaf.  Is  writing  poetry  work,  Mr. 
Tracy?" 

"No,  but  the  reading  of  it  usually  is,  Master 
Wycoff.  And  amateur  poetry  is  generally  as 
bad  as " 

"Amateur  millinery,"  finished  Mae,  with  an 
air  of  finality. 

"Alas,  the  poet,  like  the  step-mother,  has 
few  friends,"  sighed  the  Philosopher.  "And 
most  poets  must  really  suffer,  or  they  would  not 
inflict  such  bad  verse  upon  an  unoffending,  if 
unappreciative,  public.  A  man  once  gravely 
assured  me  that  a  novelist  must,  of  necessity, 
be  a  liar — perhaps  every  poet  is  a  dyspeptic." 

"He  would  be  if  he  had  to  eat  his  own 
words,"  said  Tracy,  grimly. 

"Dolly  knows  a  poet;  he  wanted  to  marry 
her,  and  Miss  Belinda  had  to  refuse  him  for 
her,  in  some  way  that  sounded  like  viciously," 
said  the  Angel  Child. 

"Perhaps  it  was  merely  vicariously,"  hinted 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

Tracy,  with  an  amused  glance  at  Dolly's  blaz 
ing  cheeks  and  Belinda's  look  of  horror. 

"That  does  sound  more  like  it.  I  heard 
them  talking  about  it  one  day  when  they  didn't 
know  I  was  here.  Somehow  people  talk  very 
differently  when  they  don't  know  that  I  am  in 
the  room.  I  don't  see  why  grown  people  have 
to  be  careful  about  what  they  say  before  com 
pany;  nobody  will  punish  them  or  make  them 
go  to  bed  before  dark." 

"What  a  pity  that  such  is  the  case,"  sighed 
Evelyn.  "The  world  would  be  so  much  nicer 
if  the  bore  might  be  sent  to  bed  at  four  o'clock, 
without  his  dinner !" 

"It  wouldn't  be  nice  for  the  bore — I  can  tell 
you  that  much!"  wailed  the  Angel  Child. 
"What  is  a  bore,  Mr.  Tracy?" 

"A  bore,  my  dear  fellow,  is  a  person  who 
persists  in  telling  you  about  stupid  things 
which  have  happened  to  him,  just  when  you 
want  to  tell  him  some  of  the  really  interesting 
things  which  have  happened  to  you.  I  have 
known  people  who  were  talked  to  death  by  an 


150 


And  the  Angel  Child 

industrious  bore,  and  who  died  happy  at  the 
thought  of  escaping  further  torture." 

"Nevertheless,  it  is  better  to  be  a  live  bore 
than  a  dead  wit,"  remarked  the  Philosopher, 
with  an  air  of  conviction. 

"You  look  very  tired,"  said  the  Very  Young 
Man,  to  Dolly.  "I  suppose  you  have  been  try 
ing  to  follow  the  conversation.  A  conscien 
tious  person,  like  yourself,  must  suffer  a  great 
deal  in  such  society." 

"Oh,  dear!"  cried  Dolly;  "I  hope  you  are 
not  becoming  witty,  too !  I  think  I  should  slip 
away  sometimes,  when  they  are  discussing 
other  people — if  only  I  were  quite  sure  that 
my  own  turn  would  not  come  in  my  absence. 
I  suppose  that  you  have  been  working  very 
hard  to-day?" 

"Oh,  very.  Sometimes,  if  it  were  not  for 
Mrs.  Rafferty,  I  should  quite  envy  her  husband. 
Washing  windows  and  tending  furnaces  can 
not  really  be  a  great  strain  on  the  mental 
powers.  But  then  other  people's  work  usually 
seems  easy.  Do  you  know,  I  am  afraid  that 
it  takes  some  time  to  make  a  fortune  at  the 
15* 


The  Very  Yo\ing  Man 

law,  even  after  you  have  been  admitted  to  the 
bar.  Do  you  care  much  for  money,  Miss 
Dolly?" 

"I  ?  Oh,  not  at  all ;  but — but  then  I  am  not 
studying  law,  you  know." 

"Why,  look  at  Dolly;  she  is  blushing,  just 
because  she  is  not  studying  law,  like  Mr.  Sweet 
ing!"  cried  the  Angel  Child.  "Ladies  are  very 
different,  aren't  they,  mamma?  Miss  Adams 
didn't  blush  when  I  told  her  the  other  day  that 
papa  said  it  was  lucky  she  wasn't  a  lawyer, 
with  her  talent  for  cross-questioning.  I  sup 
pose  I've  said  something  very  shocking  now, 
because  Mr.  Tracy  is  laughing — gentlemen  al 
ways  laugh  when  it  isn't  their  own  little  boys 
that  say  shocking  things.  I  wish  it  was  the 
fathers  that  laughed;  it  would  make  it  a  great 
deal  pleasanter  after  the  company  was  gone." 

"Sherlock  Holmes  in  knickerbockers,"  said 
Tracy  to  Evelyn.  "I  wonder  sometimes  if 
that  child  will  live  to  grow  up." 

"Only  the  good  die  young,"  said  Evelyn, 
flippantly ;  "the  epitaphs  in  any  graveyard  will 
tell  you  that.  But  then  if  all  epitaphs  are  to 
J52 


And  the  Angel  Child 

be  implicitly  believed,  all  persons  not  strictly 
virtuous  are  cremated  here,  as  well  as  here 
after." 

"Perhaps  the  maker  of  epitaphs  is  also  an 
optimist,"  said  Tracy;  "he  is  certainly  not  a 
pessimist." 

"Not  in  the'  beginning,  at  least,"  spoke  the 
Philosopher.  "However,  your  true  pessimist 
is  made,  not  born.  I  often  wonder  how  many 
disillusions  go  to  the  making  of  one." 

"One,  if  it  is  complete  enough,"  observed  the 
Matron.  "The  divorce  court  often  proves  to 
us  that  hatred  is  merely  love  turned  wrong  side 
out." 

"Extremes  frequently  meet — at  the  altar," 
remarked  Tracy.  "I  have  not,  however, 
noticed  that  either  of  them  are  much  benefited 
by  the  meeting.  Don't  look  so  horrified,  Miss 
Watterson;  you  can't  expect  a  reporter  to  be 
an  idealist  and  still  keep  his  job." 

"Nor  to  remain  one,  if  he  loses  it,"  smiled 
the  Philosopher,  as  he  rose  to  go. 


J53 


Chapter  VIII 

"Or  course,  it  is  really  none  of  my  affair," 
said  Miss  Adams,  shutting  her  lips  very  firmly 
after  each  word.  "I  merely  mentioned  it  be 
cause  I  felt  that  it  was  my  duty." 

"Of  course,"  replied  the  Matron.  "What 
do  you  intend  to  do  about  it,  if  I  may  ask?" 

"I — well,  that  is,  I  thought  that  perhaps  you 
might  like  to  tell  Belinda,"  faltered  Miss 
Adams ;  "you  see,  she  has  rather  a  hot  temper, 
and  she  does  not  know  you  intimately  enough 
to  express  herself  as  fully  as  she  might  to  me,  if 
I  mentioned  it." 

"Thank  you;  but  I  know  her  quite  well 
enough  to  decline  to  meddle  with  her  affairs. 
Of  course,  with  an  old  friend  like  yourself,  it 
is  quite  different.  You  will,  no  doubt,  feel  it 
your  duty  to  tell  her,  and  she  cannot  mistake 
your  motive.  You  are  quite  sure  that  Mr. 
Sweeting  is  engaged  to  that  girl,  are  you?" 
155 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"Well,  he  used  to  go  to  church  with  her  on 
Sunday  evenings;  I  can't  think  of  anything 
much  more  definite  than  that.  And  as  I  am 
old  enough  to  be — to  be  Dolly's  elder  sister,  I 
cannot  let  him  make  love  to  her  in  that  fashion, 
without  making  some  effort  to  open  her  eyes 
to  the  natural  perfidy  of  man." 

"As  to  making  love  to  her,  I  fancy  he  has 
not  much  opportunity  for  that,"  said  the 
Matron,  thoughtfully.  "You  see,  they  take 
Edward  whenever  they  go  for  a  walk,  and  I 
doubt  if  even  a  widower  could  succeed  in  mak 
ing  love  in  his  presence.  To  be  sure,  they  lose 
him  occasionally,  but  Dolly  is  far  too  con 
scientious  to  think  of  anything  else  until  they 
find  him.  No,  Edward  may  be  able  to  enact 
the  part  of  Cupid  up-to-date  in  bringing  them 
together,  but  otherwise,  Hymen  will  get  little 
aid  from  him,  or  I  greatly  mistake  my  son  and 
heir.  Besides,  you  know,  Mr.  Sweeting  may 
really  be  in  love  with  Dolly,  and  not  with  the 
other  girl  at  all.  The  proof  of  the  attachment 
is  in  the  engagement;  but,  then,  some  proofs 
require  a  great  many  alterations." 
J56 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"I  know  too  much  of  the  perfidious  nature 
of  man,  to  fancy  for  an  instant  that  he  is  in 
earnest.  Then  you  think  it  my  duty  to  tell 
Belinda,  do  you?" 

"I  think  you  know  your  own  duty  best," 
said  the  Matron,  deftly  avoiding  the  pitfall. 
"But  if  you  do  tell  her,  you  must  come  right 
up  and  tell  me  all  about  it,"  she  added. 

Belinda  succeeded  in  opening  the  door,  at 
the  third  attempt,  and  after  Miss  Adams  had 
called  a  great  deal  of  advice  through  the  key 
hole. 

"Oh,  I  am  so  glad  it  is  you,  and  not  Mrs. 
Rafferty!"  she  exclaimed,  as  her  visitor  sank 
into  a  chair.  "She  has  already  told  me  twice 
the  entire  story  of  her  first  husband's  death, 
and  the  courtship  of  the  second,  so  I  rather 
dread  her  further  eloquence.  I  always  wonder 
what  she  talked  about  during  the  early  ac 
quaintance  of  her  first  husband;  she  had  his 
death  and  burial  for  a  topic  when  Mr.  Raf 
ferty  came  on  the  scene,  but  she  was  not  born 
a  widow,  though  she  was  evidently  born  to  be 
one.  But  you  look  worried.  Have  you  seen 
J57 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

any    suspicious-looking    characters     prowling 
about  to-day  ?" 

Miss  Adams  shook  her  head.  "No ;  but  you 
can't  tell  much  about  a  man  by  his  looks,"  she 
sighed.  "I  suppose  that  poor  dear  Dolly  has 
gone  for  a  walk  with  Mr.  Sweeting?" 

"She  went  with  Edward,  but  Mr.  Sweeting 
has  probably  met  them  before  this.  Well,  I 
shall  not  move  until  the  lease  expires,  that  is 
all.  Oh,  dear,  since  Dolly  and  I  have  decided 
to  remain  bachelor  girls  and  spend  our  lives 
together,  I  wish  that  she  had  not  quite  such 
long  eyelashes!  But  then  she  can  always  get 
more  repairs  out  of  the  agent  than  any  of  the 
other  tenants,  so  even  her  eyelashes  have  their 
uses." 

"Has  she  said  anything  recently  about  re 
maining  a  bachelor  girl  ?"  queried  Miss  Adams, 
in  sepulchral  tones.  "I  merely  ask  for  in 
formation,  you  know." 

"I  am  sure  I    don't    remember;    but    that 
doesn't  make  any  difference.     She  talks  more 
about  Edward  than  anything  else  lately.     She 
is  perfectly  devoted  to  that  child." 
'58 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"So  is  Mr.  Sweeting,  I  believe.  Ah,  by  the 
way,  I  suppose  you  are  aware  that  Mr.  Sweet 
ing  is  engaged  to  a  lovely  girl,  who  used  to 
live  opposite  the  house  where  a  friend  of  mine 
boarded?" 

"You  don't  say  so?"  cried  Belinda,  warmly. 
"I  am  so  glad  to  hear  it.  I  have  been  afraid 
that  he  might  fall  in  love  with  Dolly,  like  the 
rest  of  them.  And  as  he  lives  immediately 
beneath  us,  it  would  be  so  easy  for  him  to  meet 
her  in  the  hall  every  time  she  went  in  and  out 
— and  really  it  is  not  always  convenient  for 
me  to  see  her  as  far  as  the  street  door  every 
time,  and  then  watch  my  chance  to  get  back 
unobserved  by  the  young  man.  I  must  ask 
Mr.  Sweeting  to  bring  his  fiancee  to  the  salon 
some  day  soon." 

Miss  Adams  shook  her  head  mournfully. 
"I  fear  you  do  not  watch  that  poor  child  very 
carefully.  A  disappointment  in  love  is  some 
times  a  very  serious  matter." 

"So  is  an  attack  of  the  measles ;  and  yet  the 
majority  of  people  get  over  it.  Won't  you  sit 
longer  ?" 

159 


The  Very  Young  Man 

"No,  thank  you.  And  I  only  hope  that  when 
he  breaks  that  poor  child's  trusting  heart,  you 
will  not  hold  me  responsible,  that's  all." 

"Fiddlesticks!"  cried  Belinda,  scornfully. 
"I  am  never  surprised  at  the  stupidity  of  men, 
because  that  is  natural  to  them;  but  I  didn't 
think  that  Dolly's  romantic  looks  would  have 
taken  you  in,  too.  She  has  no  more  idea  of 
falling  in  love  than — than  I  have,  there!  She 
has  other  and  more  important  things  to  think 
of,  especially  now  that  in  the  salon  we  are  be 
ginning  to  realize  some  of  our  dreams.  But 
then,  nobody  ever  seems  to  realize  the  sincerity 
of  a  bachelor  girl's  determination  not  to  marry, 
until  she  is  old  enough  to  make  it  unlikely  that 
any  one  will  ask  her." 


It  was  ten  minutes  to  nine  by  the  French 
clock  on  the  mantel,  and  twenty  minutes  to 
five  by  Belinda's  watch,  which  proved  that  it 
was  exactly  a  quarter  past  six  by  the  correct 
time,  when  Dolly  ran  lightly  up  the  stairs,  and 
gave  the  signal  at  the  door  which  proved  that 


And  the  Angel  Child 

no  unauthorized  stranger  applied  for  admis 
sion. 

"Oh,  Belinda,  I  hope  you  were  not  uneasy," 
she  cried.  "I  know  that  I  am  a  little  late,  but 
we  could  not  get  Edward  away  from  the  nickel- 
in-the-slot  machine  until  we  had  given  him  all 
the  change  we  happened  to  have  with  us.  And 
then  we  had  no  carfare  left,  so  we  had  to  walk 
home,  and " 

"I  was  not  at  all  uneasy,"  responded  Belinda, 
calmly.  "I  knew  that  Edward  was  with  you 
and  that  he  is  never  permanently  lost.  Here 
are  Evelyn  and  Mae.  They  have  dropped  in 
to  dine  with  us  and  have  a  nice  long  talk." 

"Indeed  we  have,"  cried  Evelyn.  "There 
are  always  so  many  men  here  when  you  have 
the  salon,  that  I  get  no  chance  to  talk  at  all ;  so 
I  thought  I  might  avenge  myself  for  all  that 
involuntary  listening,  by  talking  about  them, 
when  they  are  not  present.  So  you  have  been 
out  with  Mr.  Sweeting?  How  very  odd." 

"Why,  yes,  wasn't  it?"  said  Dolly,  calmly. 
"We  happened  to  meet  him  at  the  hall  door, 

and  Edward  is  so  fond  of  him,  that " 

\6\ 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"And  you,  too,"  said  Mae,  pleasantly. 
"Dear  me,  I  often  wonder  at  the  willingness  of 
girls  to  take  Mr.  Sweeting  at  his  own  valua 
tion.  Now,  I  admit  that  his  neckties  are  al 
ways  tied  beautifully;  so  he  must  have  brains. 
But  then  brains  are  not  everything,  you  know." 

"They  are  not,"  said  Evelyn,  decidedly. 
"For  my  part,  I  think  that  money  not  only 
talks,  but  it  says  the  wittiest  things  possible. 
Now,  I  wouldn't  for  the  world  say  a  word 
against  Mr.  Sweeting,  but  he  hasn't  any  money, 
you  know." 

"Neither  has  Mr.  Tracy;  and  yet  you  both 
seem  to  like  him  very  well,"  said  Dolly,  smil 
ing. 

"Oh,  but  that  is  very  different.  Anyhow, 
it  is  no  use  to  snub  a  man  who  does  not  care 
whether  you  like  him  or  not.  The  average  poor 
man  is  very  anxious  to  share  his  poverty  with 
some. nice  girl,  but " 

"The  wealthy  one  wants  to  keep  his  money 
for  himself?  Indeed,  he  does!  And  isn't  it 
horrid  of  him?"  cried  Mae. 

"Very.  That  was  not  what  I  was  about  to 
\  62 


And  the  Angel  Child 

say,  however.  I  was  going  to  remark  that  Mr. 
Tracy  is  not  the  average  poor  man.  I  doubt 
if  even  a  widow  could  convince  him  that  the 
half  of  his  salary  was  equal  to  the  whole  of  it, 
or  words  to  that  effect." 

"Since  no  man  is  ever  convinced  of  anything, 
unless  he  is  willing  to  be  convinced,"  agreed 
Mae,  "I — er — suppose  that  Mr.  Sweeting  is 
what  might  be  called  an  average  man?" 

"At  least  he  never  says  anything  unpleasant 
concerning  the  absent,"  Dolly  retorted. 

"Goodness,  he  is  not  that  stupid,  is  he?  I 
have  often  wondered  how  Gladys  Van  Style 
could  be  so  much  in  love  with  him  that  she 
went  walking  with  him  every  afternoon  last 
winter.  Of  course,  she  must  have  been  in  love 
with  him,  though;  for  it  stands  to  reason  that 
a  girl  who  wears  her  shoes  two  entire  sizes 
too  small  for  her,  must  care  a  great  deal  for 
a  man,  when  she  is  willing  to  take  long  walks 
with  him." 

"Oh,    well,    I    don't    know,"    interjected 
Evelyn ;  "you  may  be  too  hard  upon  her.     Per 
haps  her  family  objected  to  him." 
163 


The  Very  Young  MaLi\ 

"They  might — if  they  were  quite  sure  that 
he  was  not  in  earnest — not  otherwise.  You 
see,  I  went  to  school  with  Glady,  and  I  know 
her.  You — ah — I  suppose  you  are  aware  that 
he  is  engaged  to  her,  Dolly?" 

"I — er — that  is — Mr.  Sweeting  has  men 
tioned  her  to  me,"  replied  Dolly,  quietly. 
"He " 

"Oh,  yes,  he  is  engaged  to  her.  Miss  Adams 
came  down  to  tell  me  this  afternoon,"  broke 
in  Belinda.  "I  meant  to  tell  you,  as  soon  as 

you  came  in,  but What  on  earth  is  that  ? 

Oh,  my  goodness,  somebody  is  crying  'Fire!' 
I  knew  it;  I  always  knew  I  should  be  burned 
to  death,  and  that  is  why  I  chose  a  fireproof 
building!  Dolly,  where  did  I  tell  you  I  had 
put  the  fire  insurance  policy,  after  that  last 
burglar  scare?" 

"I— I  don't  know.  Indeed,  I  don't,"  fal 
tered  Dolly. 

"But  you  told  me  you  would  remember — 

you  must  remember!"  cried  Belinda.     "And 

my  jewelry  and  the  silver!     Oh,  where  did  I 

hide  them  after  my  fright?     Was  it  in  the 

164 


And  the  Angel  Child 

clothes  hamper  with  the  soiled  linen,  or  was  it 
in  the  big  vase  in  the  corner  of  the  parlor, 

or Go,  Dolly,  and  leave  me  to  my  fate. 

I  will  not  leave  my  valuables  to  be  destroyed. 
If  you  never  see  me  again,  remember  that  I  was 
perfectly  cool  and  collected,  and  my  last  words 
were " 

"How  do  you  open  this  door?"  wailed  Mae 
and  Evelyn,  in  a  breath.  "We,  at  least,  did 
not  come  here  to  be  cremated,  and " 

"Turn  to  the  left ;  no,  to  the  right,  and 

Oh,  Belinda,  I  can't  open  the  door!  If  Mae 
and  Evelyn  are  burned  to  death  because  of  my 
stupidity,  they  can  never  forgive  me,  and  I 
don't  expect  it  of  them.  Belinda,  come  and 
open  the  door." 

"I  can't ;  I  don't  remember  either !  Oh — hi, 
why  don't  you  go,  Evelyn,  and  you  too,  Mae, 
and  leave  us  to  our  fate?" 

"We  will  be  glad  enough  to  go,  when  we  get 
the  door  unlocked,"  retorted  Mae.  "Quick! 
ring  the  bell  for  the  janitor,  Evelyn.  He " 

"Why,  yes,  ring  the  bell  for  the  janitor/* 
wailed  Belinda.  "Tell  him  to  come  up  at  once 
165 


The  Very  Young  Ma.rt 

and  let  us  out.  If  he  waits  until  we  are  charred 
corpses,  I  shall  have  him  discharged  at  once. 
Tell  him  just  that;  he  knows  that  when  I  say 
a  thing,  I  mean  it." 

"I  have  rung  six  times,  and  the  card  over 
the  bell  says  three  times ;  so  he  will  know  that 
we  want  him  at  once,"  said  Evelyn.  "Where 
did  I  put  my  hat  when  I  came  in?" 

"Scream !  Why  doesn't  somebody  scream  ?" 
said  Mae,  in  a  hoarse  whisper.  "I  can't  get 
my  voice  out  of  my  boots,  to  save  my  own  life. 
Oh — h,  if  a  mouse  would  only  run  across  the 
floor,  I  could  scream  as  well  as  anybody !" 

"Pound  on  the  floor,  Dolly;  pound  hard. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Sweeting  will  come  up  and  save 
us,  if  he  knows  that  it  is  you  pounding.  Oh, 
what  shall  I  do?"  moaned  Evelyn.  "I — I 
borrowed  Anne's  best  hatpin  yesterday,  without 
saying  anything  to  her,  because  I  knew  she'd 
refuse  to  loan  it,  if  I  did.  If  I  am  burned  to 
death,  she  will  think  I  took  it,  meaning  to  keep 
it.  Anne  is  always  so  willing  to  think  the 
•worst  of  a  girl  whose  belt  is  two  inches  smaller 
than  her  own.  And,  Mae,  I  never  told  you, 
(66 


And  the  Angel  Child 

but  Jack  Rocksley  asked  for  you,  too,  when 
he  called  the  other  evening,  and  I — I  told  him 
that  you  seemed  sort  of  sad,  and  I  did  not  like 
to  disturb  your  meditations,  as  it  was  your 
birthday.  I  hope  you  can  forgive  me  before 
I  die." 

"I  can,  dear ;  especially  as  I  happened  to  meet 
him  on  the  street,  the  following  day,  when  I 
casually  mentioned  the  fact  that  I  am  two  years 
your  junior.  Oh,  why  doesn't  somebody  come 
and  let  us  out?" 

"I  smell  smoke.  Oh,  I  am  stifling!"  cried 
Belinda.  "Why  doesn't  the  janitor  come;  why 
does  nobody  come?  If  I  were  a  man,  I  would 
not  let  helpless  women  burn  to  death  while  I 
read  my  evening  paper.  What  is  that?" 

Some  one  was  hammering  at  the  door. 
"Let  me  in,"  called  the  voice  of  the  Very 
Young  Man;  "the  halls  are  full  of  smoke,  and 
you  have  no  time  to  lose." 

"We  can't ;  we  can't  get  the  door  unlocked," 

replied  Belinda.     "Why  did  I  ever  get  those 

patent  locks?     No,  it  is  no  use  to  try  to  save 

us.     Don't  attempt  to  burst  the  door  in — it 

J67 


The  Very  Young  Man 

will  just  spoil  the  woodwork  and  do  no  good. 
Escape  while  you  can,  and  leave  us  to  our  fate. 
We  are  prepared  for  it." 

"Wait  a  moment,  and  don't  give  up,  Dolly!" 
called  the  voice.  "I'll  save  you  yet."  They 
heard  him  dash  down  the  stairs  and,  after  what 
seemed  an  age,  they  heard  a  tap  at  the  dining- 
room  window. 

"The  fire-escape !"  shrieked  Evelyn.  "Why 
did  none  of  you  silly  things  think  of  the  fire- 
escape  ?" 

"Why  didn't  you  think  of  it  yourself?"  re 
torted  Belinda.  "I  am  the  only  one  of  you  that 
hasn't  lost  her  head,  and Oh,  my  good 
ness,  Dolly,  I  can't  get  this  patent  catch  open, 
and  the  window  won't  raise  without  it." 

Dolly  put  her  gently  aside  and  opened  the 
window.  "Take  Belinda  first,  please,  Mr. 
Sweeting." 

"I  shall  take  you  first,"  said  the  Very  Young 
Man,  calmly.  "Come." 

"Yes,  you  go  first,  and  if  you  are  not  killed, 
the  rest  of  us  will  follow,"  said  Evelyn. 
"Hurry  up,  and  don't  be  so  selfish;  we  are 
J68 


And  the  Angel  Child 

stifling  now.  Well,  Belinda  Manly,  I  must 
say  that  you  are  a  nice  hostess,  to  invite  peo 
ple  to  see  you  and  then  have  a  fire  in  the  build- 
ing!" 

"You — you  came  of  your  own  accord  to 
day,"  Belinda  wailed. 

"Well,  you  said  to  come  any  time  at  all,  and 
how  did  we  know  that  the  house  was  going  to 
burn  down  this  very  day?  There  is  no  use 
in  being  illogical,  if  you  are  facing  a  horrible 
death.  Belinda  Manly,  what  are  you  doing 
with  that  old  parasol?" 

"I  want  to  save  some  of  my  valuables,"  re 
plied  Belinda,  with  great  dignity.  "I  am  quite 
cool,  as  you  may  see,  and  I " 

"Well,  so  is  the  weather,  and  I  wouldn't 
begin  with  an  old  white  parasol  and  a  last 
month's  magazine,  if  I  were  you;  I  doubt  if 
they  will  do  you  much  good.  Why  doesn't 
Mr.  Sweeting  come  back  for  us?  He  must 
have  been  gone  at  least  an  hour.  Oh — h,  there 
is  the  fire  engine ;  we  shall  all  be  saved.  Mae, 
dear,  that  was  all  a  joke  about  Jack  Rocksley, 
you  know." 

169 


The  Very  Young  Man 

"I  am  glad  that  you  can  look  upon  it  with 
such  serenity,  dear.  He  said  he  thought  your 
behavior  rather  funny.  Oh,  girls,  shall  I  look 
very  dreadful  when  the  firemen  come  to  carry 
me  out?" 

The  Very  Young  Man  was  guiding  Dolly 
carefully  down  the  escape.  "Go  very  slowly," 
he  said,  "and  be  sure  that  I  will  not  let  you 
fall."  Finally,  he  swung  her  safely  to  the 
ground,  under  the  eyes  of  a  curious  crowd. 

"Oh,  you  have  saved  my  life;  how  can  I  ever 
thank  you  ?"  she  cried.  "But  don't  let  Belinda 
die!  And  don't  get  hurt  yourself! 
Don't " 

"Say,  where's  de  fire?"  broke  in  a  youthful 
voice.  "I  seen  de  guy  bring  de  lady  down  de 
ladder,  but  I  ain't  seen  no  smoke.  Maybe  dey 
was  elopin',  see." 

"A  lamp  exploded  in  one  of  the  upper  flats," 
a  decided  voice  was  explaining.  "They  have 
sent  for  the  fire  engines — and  here  they  come." 

"Say,"  demanded  the  gruff  tones  of  the 
officer,  "whatcher  mean  by  calling  out  th' 
whole  department,  when  it  was  only  a  lamp 
J70 


And  the  Angel  Child 

exploded  and  they  got  th'  fire  out  theirselves? 
Think  we  ain't  got  nothin'  t'  do,  but  put  out 
th'  fire  in  th'  cookstove,  when  ye  want  t'  cool 
th'  house  fer  a  dance  ?" 

"Why,  there  is  Belinda,  and  Mae,  and 
Evelyn!"  Dolly  cried.  "Oh,  I  am  so  glad 
that  you  are  safe.  Don't  risk  your  life  by 
going  back  into  the  flames,  Mr.  Sweeting. 
How  did  you  get  out,  girls  ?" 

"The  door  wasn't  locked  at  all,"  said  Mae, 
crossly.  "I  opened  it  and  we  all  walked  out. 
And  there  seems  to  be  no  fire,  after  all."  She 
spoke  as  if  Dolly  was  personally  responsible  for 
her  fright. 

"I — I  didn't  think  to  try  it;  I  was  so  sure 
it  was  locked,"  Belinda  faltered.  "You  see, 
I  couldn't  think  for  all  of  you.  If  you  had  all 
been  as  cool  as  I  was,  we " 

"Why,  look  at  Miss  Manly,  with  her  arms 
full  of  old  magazines !"  cried  the  Angel  Child. 
"And  Mr.  Sweeting  carried  Dolly  down  the 
fire-escape  when  there  wasn't  any  fire,  didn't 
he  ?  You  needn't  have  been  scared,  you  know. 
I  was  just  playing  cave-dweller,  under  the  table 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

in  the  parlor,  and  I  must  have  pulled  the  cover 
a  wee  little  bit,  for  the  lamp  fell  off,  and  there 
was  a  lot  of  smoke,  and  somebody  rang  the 
fire  alarm.  Mr.  Rafferty  went  up  on  the  roof 
and  cut  a  hole  in  it,  so  they  could  get  the  hose 
in — I  reckon  he  forgot  the  trap  door,  didn't 
he?  He  was  as  cool  as  Miss  Belinda,  wasn't 
he?  Why,  I  don't  see  why  everybody  looks 
so  mad.  You  are  not  sorry  that  you  are  not 
burned  up,  are  you?" 

Nobody  said  a  word,  and  nobody  looked  at 
anyone  else.  With  one  accord,  they  stole  softly 
up  the  stairs,  with  Belinda  in  the  lead,  leaving 
the  janitor  still  in  heated  converse  with  the 
firemen.  The  four  girls  sat  silent  for  a  few 
moments,  and  then  Mae  said:  "Well,  at  any 
rate,  Dolly,  the  rest  of  us  didn't  let  anybody 
carry  us  down  the  fire-escape.  I  should  think 
that  you  would  be  ashamed  to  be  the  only  one 
who  was  really  frightened." 

"I — I  was  awfully  frightened;  but — but  he 
didn't  really  carry  me.  He  only  helped  me, 
you  know ;"  she  hung  her  pretty  head. 

"It  was  all  the  same  anyhow,"  observed 
J72 


And  the  Angel  Child 

Evelyn.  "Well,  for  rny  part,  I  was  not  at  all 
frightened ;  but  the  rest  of  you " 

"I  was  as  cool  ,as  I  ever  was  in  my  life!" 
cried  Belinda.  "I  gave  Dolly  the  fire  insurance 

policy,  and Dolly,  where  is  that  policy 

now?  If  you  have  lost  it,  I  shall  hold  Mr. 
Sweeting  personally  responsible,  because 
he " 

"Here  is  the  paper  you  gave  me,  dear;  but 
it  seems  that  it  is  not  exactly  the  policy.  It  is 
a  recipe  for  golden  buck.  But,  then " 

"That  proves  nothing,  except  that  you  are 
very  careless  not  to  remember  where  I  put 
things.  I  was  as  calm  and  collected  as  possi 
ble.  I  call  all  of  you  to  witness  that " 

"Well,  really,  I  must  go  home,"  said  Evelyn, 
suddenly.  "No,  Belinda,  I  will  not  stay  for 
dinner.  I  only  hope  that  I  shall  not  be  ill, 
because  you  fancied  there  was  a  fire,  and  made 
me  run  out  into  the  street  without  my  hat  and 
wrap,  that  is  all." 

"And  I  doubt,  Dolly,  if  Gladys  will  be  at  all 
pleased  when  I  tell  her  that  her  fiance  carried 
you.  down  the,  fire-escape,  when  there  really 
J73 


The  Very  Young 

wasn't  any  fire.  I  have  owed  her  a  call  for 
a  year,  and  I  really  cannot  put  it  off  longer  than 
to-morrow.  It  does  look  rather  queer ;  but  then 
one  must  put  the  best  construction  possible  on 
things,  and  I  suppose  that  he  must  have  thought 
there  was  a  fire,  or  he  wouldn't  have  done  it. 
If  you  had  listened  a  moment  to  me,  I " 

"And  phat  did  yees  want  whin  yees  was 
ringin'  th'  bell,  a  whoile  ago?"  queried  the  mel 
low  voice  of  Mr.  Rafferty,  at  the  door,  as  Dolly 
opened  it  for  the  exit  of  the  guests. 

"I — we  smelled  smoke,  and  my  guests  rang 
the  bell  to  find  out  what  was  wrong,"  faltered 
Belinda.  "And  I  must  say,"  she  added,  in  a 
firmer  tone,  "that  if  you  really  did  your  duty 
in  the  future,  Mr.  Rafferty,  you  would  guard 
against  such  things.  If  not,  we  shall  certainly 
be  obliged  to  move,  and  I  shall  be  careful  to  tell 
the  agent  why  we  do  it." 

"An'  if  thot  agent  can  be  afther  kaping 
Masther  Wycoff  out  of  mischief,  it's  meself 
thot  would  be  glad  to  have  him  do  it.  If  this 
thing  kapes  up  another  year,  Miss  Manly,  Oi'H 


J74 


And  the  Angel  Child 

be  dead  in  a  month."  And  he  went  sorrow 
fully  away. 

A  few  hours  later,  Dolly  was  wakened  from 
a  sleep  far  too  deep  to  be  genuine,  by  a  vigor 
ous  shake.  Belinda  stood  by  her  bed,  tall  and 
white. 

"Oh,  Belinda,  don't  tell  me  that  it  is  another 
fire,"  she  wailed.  "I  am  so  tired.  And  it  is 
such  a  very  rainy  night  that  I  am  sure  burglars 
will  not  be  out.  Do  let  us  go  to  sleep  and — 
and  forget  things." 

"No,  it  isn't  a  fire,  and  it  isn't  burglars," 
replied  Belinda,  firmly.  "I  shall  certainly  have 
the  janitor  discharged,  if  we  have  any  more 
such  doings." 

"Can't  we  wait  to  talk  about  that  in  the 
morning,  dear?" 

"I  suppose  we  can.  But,  Dolly,  he  is  really 
engaged,  you  know.  You  don't  mind,  do 
you?" 

"Who  is  engaged?  Mr.  Rafferty?"  queried 
Dolly,  with  unnecessary  stupidity.  "Of  course, 
he  is  engaged,  or  he  wouldn't  be  here,  goosie." 

"No,  of  course  not — Mr.  Sweeting.  Miss 
J75 


And  the  Angel  Child 

Adams  told  me  about  it,  this  afternoon.  I 
couldn't  help  being  a  little  worried,  though  I 
knew  you  would  never  care  a  straw  for  any 
man.  But  you  took  it  so  quietly  when  the  girls 
told  you,  that " 

"He  is  not  engaged  to  her  now.  He — he 
told  me  all  about  it,  the  other  day.  He  found 
her  out  in  time,  and  he  is  quite  sure  that  he 
never  really  cared  for  her,  save  as  a  friend." 

"Oh !"  said  Belinda,  blankly.  "Well,  I  must 
say  that  I  think  it  was  officious  of  him  to  act 
in  the  way  he  did  to-day,  carrying  you  down 
the  fire-escape,  when  the  door  was  not  locked, 
and  there  was  not  even  a  fire !  I  think  we  had 
better  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  him 
in  future.  I — I  doubt  if  he  really  appreciates 
the  lofty  aims  of  the  bachelor  girl,  and  her 
ability  to  take  care  of  herself,  anyhow." 


J76 


CKaLpter  IX 

Miss  ADAMS,  Belinda  and  Dolly  stepped 
from  the  platform  of  a  street  car,  just  as  the 
clocks  pointed  to  fifteen  minutes  of  twelve. 
In  spite  of  the  cheerfulness  of  her  companions, 
Miss  Adams  looked  as  if  she  wished  herself 
anywhere  else,  at  the  present  moment,  and 
kept  peering  anxiously  into  the  shadows  of 
the  quiet  street. 

"Yes,  it  was  a  good  play,"  Belinda  was  say 
ing;  "written  by  a  woman,  too.  Well,  women 
can  do  anything  they  want  to  do,  in  these  days. 
They  are  progressing,  while  men  are  at  a  stand 
still." 

"Of  course,  women  can  do  anything,  and 
without  masculine  assistance,  too,"  agreed  Miss 
Adams.  "We  know  what  we  can  do,  and  we 
have  the  bravery  to  do  it.  Belinda — ah — need 
we  choose  the  dark  side  of  the  street?  I  am 

not  afraid,  but What  was  that?"     She 

clutched  Dolly's  arm. 

J77 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"A  cat,  I  think,"  said  Dolly,  gently.  "I— 
I — don't  you  think  that  the  heroine  was  almost 
too  good  to  be  true,  Belinda?  And  need  the 
author  have  made  the  hero  quite  so  lady-like? 
Of  course,  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  it  seems  to 
me  that  it  takes  more  than  a  few  expletives  and 
a  few  cigars  to  make  a  man,  even  on  the 
stage." 

"Possibly;  but  that  is  mere  detail.  The 
main  idea  is  that  the  world  moves.  Why,  only 
think  of  it!  Woman  has  only  arrived  at  the 
dignity  of  a  latch-key  within  the  last  ten  years. 
The  first  thing  we  know,  we  shall  have  pockets 
to  keep  them  in — and  then  the  world  is  ours !" 

"And  I  don't  doubt  but  that  we  can  get 
pockets  in  our  gowns,  now  that  we  have  men  to 
make  them,"  mused  Dolly.  "Isn't  it  odd  that 
when  a  woman  goes  into  a  new  line  of  busi 
ness,  everybody  says  she  is  out  of  her  sphere! 
Nobody  thinks  a  man  is  out  of  his  sphere  when 
he  becomes  a  ladies'  tailor." 

"Girls,  that  man  is  following  us,"  whispered 
Miss  Adams,  hoarsely.  "He  got  off  the  car 
when  we  did,  and  he  has  kept  just  the  same 
J7S 


And  the  Angel  Child 

distance  behind  us  ever  since !  What  shall  we 
do?  Oh — h,  I  wish  we  had  a  man  with  us." 

"That  is  quite  unnecessary;  I  shall  call  the 
police,  if  he  speaks  to  us,"  said  Belinda,  firmly. 
"There  is  no  use  in " 

"But  there  isn't  a  policeman  in  sight.  Oh, 
he  is  following  us — I  know  it !  What  shall  we 
do?" 

"We  might  run,"  suggested  Dolly,  breath 
lessly. 

"You  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind !"  ordered 
Belinda.  She  wheeled  suddenly:  "What  do 
you  mean  by  following  us,  in  this  fashion?" 

she  demanded.     "I  shall  call ".     The  mart 

did  not  hear  her.  He  had  run  lightly  up  the 
steps  of  the  house  they  were  passing  and  was 
inserting  a  latch-key  in  the  door. 

The  trio  walked  on,  in  silence.  Dolly 
glanced  timidly  at  Belinda  every  time  they 
passed  a  street  lamp,  but  Belinda's  eyes  were 
fixed  on  vacancy,  and  her  brow  was  drawn. 

When  at  last  they  turned  into  their  own 
street,  Miss  Adams  heaved  a  mighty  sigh  of 
relief. 

J79 


The  Very  Young  Madi 

"It  has  been  a  very  pleasant  evening,"  she 
said.  "I  am  glad  that  we  went.  As  you  say, 
Belinda,  women  are  quite  independent  now. 
Our  grandmothers " 

"Hardly  knew  what  a  latch-key  looked  like ! 
I  know  it,  poor  things.  Give  me  yours,  Dolly, 
and  we  shall  be  upstairs  in  a  trice.  I  am 
hungry,  as  hungry  as  if  I  had  been  at  a  big 
dinner." 

"I  haven't  my  key  with  me,  dear.  I  knew 
one  was  sufficient,  and  you  always  have  yours. 
Shall  I  hold  your  muff,  while  you  get  it  out?" 

"You  haven't  it  with  you?  That  is  very 
careless  of  you,  Dolly.  How  many  times  have 

I  told  you Just  give  me  yours,  will  you, 

Miss  Adams?" 

"Oh,  dear,  I  haven't  mine  with  me  either. 
I  loaned  it  to  Mrs.  Wycoff,  and  she  forgot  to 
return  it.  She  had  left  hers  sticking  in  the 
door,  and  somebody  took  it,  though  she  went 
to  look  for  it,  the  very  next  day.  You  purely 
don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have  brought  me 
out,  without  a  latch-key,  Belinda?" 

Belinda  put  down  her  muff,  with  the  air  of 
J80 


And  the  Angel  Child 

an  indignant  martyr;  cast  her  program  on  the 
floor  of  the  vestibule  and  began  an  extended 
search. 

"I  hope  this  will  be  a  lesson  to  you,  Dolly," 
she  said,  severely.  "You  must  really  learn  to 
depend  upon  yourself  occasionally.  If  I  had 
been  as  careless  as  you  and  Miss  Adams,  we 

should  be  in  a  pretty  mess.  Why,  where  is  it? 
j » 

She  spread  the  contents  of  her  pocketbook 
on  the  step.  There  were  the  seat  checks,  a  gas 
bill,  her  glove  buttoner,  the  rent  receipt,  a 
twenty-dollar  bill,  a  powder  rag  and  the  dime 
with  a  hole  in  it,  which  she  was  saving  for  the 
conductor  who  had  passed  it  off  on  her — but 
no  latch-key !  She  looked  about  her,  in  speech 
less  indignation,  and  Dolly  hung  her  guilty 
head. 

"You  had  it,  trying  to  open  that  patent  can 
with  the  caviare  in  it,  this  afternoon,"  she  fal 
tered.  "I — I  am  afraid  that  it  is  on  the  ledge 
in  the  butler's  pantry,  this  minute !" 

"Then,  we  shall  have  to  go  to  a  hotel ;  that's 
all,"  said  Belinda,  gloomily. 
J8J 


The  Very  Young 

"A  party  of  women  go  to  a  hotel  at  this 
hour  of  the  night — the  idea!"  cried  Miss 
Adams,  scandalized. 

"Well,  at  any  rate,  we  can't  stay  here  all 
night."  She  darted  to  the  janitor's  bell  and 
rang  it  violently. 

"I  am  afraid  it  is  no  use,  dear,"  quavered 
Dolly.  "Mrs.  Rafferty  told  me  that  she  was 
going  to  her  sister's  third  wedding  to-night, 
and  would  not  be  home  until  to-morrow  morn 
ing.  And  she  says  that  Mr.  Rafferty  sleeps 
on  his  left  side  purposely,  so  that  his  deaf  ear 
is  uppermost  and  he  can't  hear  the  bell  at  night. 
She  doesn't  know  how  he  would  have  been  able 
to  live  since  he  became  a  janitor,  but  for  that 
deaf  ear." 

Belinda  desisted,  but  she  fixed  Dolly  with 
such  reproachful  eyes,  that  Dolly  wrung  her 
hands,  in  despair :  "Oh,  Belinda,  I  am  so  sorry 
that  I  have  given  you  all  this  trouble  by  for 
getting  my  latch-key.  I  shall  be  more  care 
ful  in  future,  I  assure  you." 

"Humph;  I  don't  see  what  good  that  will  do 
us,  in  our  present  plight.  We — we  might  go 
J82 


And  the  Angel  Child 

to  my  sister's — it  is  only  about  fifteen  miles  to 
her  house." 

"I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  said  Miss 
Adams,  promptly.  She  wore  the  remote  air  of 
the  disinterested  spectator.  "You  took  me  to 
the  theater,  and  I  expect  you  to  return  me  to 
my  own  flat,  the  same  day." 

"But  your  maid;  she  is  at  home!"  Dolly 
cried.  "We  can  ring  your  bell,  and  she  will 
let  us  in.  How  stupid  not  to  have  thought  of 
that  before." 

"She  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  I  have  in 
structed  her  that  if  the  bell  rings  after  half- 
past  ten  at  night,  she  is  to  raise  the  window  and 
call  for  the  police." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,  the  policeman  would  get 
us  in,  and  that  is  the  main  point,"  said  Belinda. 

"He  would  take  us  to  the  station  house," 
said  Miss  Adams,  with  equal  firmness.  "You 
may  not  mind  going  to  the  station  house,  but 
I  do.  Only  the  other  day  I  read  of  a  case 
where  a  man  was  arrested  for  trying  to  get  into 
his  own  house.  To  be  sure,  he  was  intoxi 
cated,  and  was  trying  the  fastenings  of  the 
J83 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

windows  in  the  basement;  but  that  makes  no 
difference  in  the  facts."  She  planted  herself 
protectingly  in  front  of  her  bell. 

"Then,  we  must  ring  Mr.  Hardy's  bell ;  a 
philosopher  does  not  expect  people  to  remem 
ber  latch-keys  and  umbrellas.  He  will  come 
down  and  let  us  in,  I  am  sure,  and  feel  quite 
rewarded  for  his  trouble  by  the  epigrams  he 
can  get  out  of  it,"  said  Dolly. 

"Dolly  Watterson,  don't  you  dare!"  cried 
Belinda.  She,  too,  placed  herself  before  the 
neat  row  of  bells.  "I  will  not  have  you  ring 
Mr.  Hardy's  bell.  Let  me  think  a  moment, 
and  I " 

"Oh,  couldn't  you  go  up  the  fire-escape?" 
cried  Miss  Adams,  eagerly.  "Dolly  came 
down  it  one  day,  you  know,  and  it  is  not  really 
very  steep.  And  Dolly  and  I  could  stand  at 
the  bottom  and  see  that  you  didn't  fall." 

"No,  I  couldn't.  The  fire-escape  does  not 
come  within  twenty  feet  of  the  ground,  and  I 
am  not  an — an  aeronaut.  Besides,  we  locked 
all  the  windows  carefully  before  we  went  away, 
so  we  couldn't  get  in,  if  I  did.  Dolly,  you  had 
J84 


And  the  Angel  Child 

better  ring  Mr.  Sweeting's  bell.  Why  did 
none  of  us  think  of  that  sooner,  I  wonder?" 

"I  did  think  of  it,  but  I  didn't  want  to  do 
it."  sighed  Dolly.  "I  hate  to  wake  him  out  of 
his  first  good  sleep,  when  he  has  worked  so 
hard  at  that  horrid  law  all  day." 

"His  conscience  will  be  at  rest  after  he  has 
performed  such  a  friendly  deed,  and  he  will 
sleep  all  the  better  after  he  goes  back.  Besides, 
Mr.  Sweeting  chatters  less  about  such  things 
afterwards,  than  any  man  I  know.  Ring  the 
bell,  Dolly." 

And  Dolly  obediently  rang  the  bell,  sighing, 
as  she  did  so.  After  what  seemed  an  age  of 
waiting,  and  when  Belinda's  hand  was  out 
stretched  once  more  towards  the  bells,  they 
heard  cautious  footsteps  descending  the  dark 
stairs.  Presently,  the  Very  Young  Man  ap 
peared  on  the  landing.  At  sight  of  the  group 
in  the  outer  vestibule,  he  quickened  his  steps. 

"Dolly  Watterson,  is  anything  wrong?"  he 
enquired,  anxiously,  as  he  opened  the  door. 

"Dolly  forgot  her  latch-key,  and  we  had  to 
trouble  you  to  let  us  in,  that  is  all;"  Belinda's 


The  Very  Young  Man 

usual  aplomb  had  returned.  "It  was  very 
stupid  of  her,  but  I  am  sure  that  she  will  never 
do  it  any  more." 

"All  three  of  us  forgot  our  latch-keys," 
amended  Dolly.  "I  am  so  much  obliged  to 
you,  Mr.  Sweeting,  and " 

"Where  is  my  pocketbook?"  cried  Belinda. 
"I  had  it  when  I  was  looking  for  my  latch-key, 
and  now " 

"Wait  a  moment;  I  will  find  it  for  you," 
cried  the  Very  Young  Man,  cheerfully.  He 
lit  a  match  and  groveled  on  the  floor  of  the 
vestibule,  which,  thanks  to  an  economical  land 
lord,  was  but  dimly  lighted.  "Here  it  is,  and 
now " 

"We  are  all  right,"  finished  Dolly.  "Yes, 
thanks  to  you,  we  are,  and — oh !"  She  started, 
as  the  door  clanged  heavily  shut. 

The  Very  Young  Man  glanced  down,  and 
was  suddenly  aware  that  he  was  lightly  clad 
in  a  house  coat,  a  pair  of  trousers  and  his  bed 
room  slippers.  His  teeth  began  to  chatter,  in 
spite  of  him. 

"Well,  we  won't  stay  here  all  night,  talking 
186 


And  the  Angel  Child 

about  it,"  cried  Belinda.  "We  can  thank  you 
much  more  gracefully,  in  the  morning.  Why, 
the  door  is  locked  again !" 

The  Very  Young  Man  put  his  hand  mechani 
cally  in  his  pocket.  It  was  empty. 

"Well,  of  all  the  carelessness!"  snapped 
Belinda.  "It  does  seem  that  a  man  can  never 
do  anything  right.  Now  what  are  you  going 
to  do?"  She  assumed  as  disinterested  an  air 
as  Miss  Adams. 

"Are  you  quite  sure  that  your  key  is  not  in 
your  pocket?"  faltered  Dolly,  the  fire  of  hope 
burning  low  in  her  eyes. 

The  Very  Young  Man  could  only  shake  his 
head.  He  was  in  the  midst  of  a  prolonged  fit 
of  sneezing. 

"The  idea  of  coming  downstairs,  without  a 
key!"  Belinda  was  addressing  Miss  Adams, 
who  looked  unutterable  scorn. 

"I — I  thought  it  was  only  a  telegram,  you 
know,"  said  the  Very  Young  Man,  humbly. 
"The  telegraph  boy  never  wants  to  talk  in  the 
vestibule." 


The  Very  Young 

"And  none  of  us  remembered  our  keys,  you 
know,  dear,"  apologized  Dolly. 

"And  we  all  want  to  get  in,"  groaned  Miss 
Adams.  "I  shall  be  ill  with  neuralgia  to- 
•morrow !" 

"Four  souls  with  but  a  single  thought — and 
not  a  latch-key  among  us,"  said  the  Very 
Young  Man. 

"You  might  let  us  in  now,  and  present  the 
humorous  aspect  of  the  situation  in  the  morn 
ing,"  answered  Belinda.  "I  fancy  we  should 
enjoy  it  more  then." 

"I'll  try  the  Wycoff's  bell,"  suggested  the 
Very  Young  Man.  "I  haven't  very  much  hope 
that  they  will  answer,  though.  Mrs.  Wycoff 
says  she  rouses,  if  a  cat  runs  across  the  roof 
— and  you  know  what  that  means." 

"That  she  would  merely  dream  of  Fourth  of 
July,  if  a  gatling  was  fired  in  the  hall,"  sighed 
Belinda;  "still,  you  might  try." 

He  did  try.  For  ten  minutes  he  and  Dolly 
rang  the  bell  by  turns.  At  intervals,  he 
sneezed  dismally. 


J88 


"I — I  wouldn't  so  much  mind  it,  if  I  wasn't 
four  flights  from  a  handkerchief,"  he  sighed. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Sweeting,  take  mine.  It  is  not 
very  big,  and  it  has  a  lot  of  lace  on  it ;  but  you 
won't  mind  that,  will  you?"  Dolly  cried.  "I 
am  so  sorry  that  you  are  so — so  uncomfortable 
— and  to  think  that  it  is  all  my  fault !" 

"Well,  that  is  no  use,"  broke  in  Belinda, 
mournfully.  "Try  Mr.  Hardy's  bell,  Mr. 
Sweeting.  I  had  rather  have  a  sermon  than 
pneumonia,  anyway." 

"It's  no  use,  Miss  Manly.  He  says  that 
when  the  bell  rings  at  night,  it  is  either  some 
body  that  wants  to  borrow  money,  or  else  bad 
news.  He  wouldn't  loan  money,  anyhow,  to  a 
man  that  waked  him  up  to  ask  for  it,  and  bad 
news  will  keep,  until  he  has  had  his  good  night's 
rest — so  he  never  answers  it." 

"Then,  since  you  disdain  all  my  suggestions, 
what  do  you  propose  to  do?" 

"I  know  the  people  who  live  in  the  second 
flat  next  door;  they  will  take  you  in  while  I 
go  and  telephone  to  the  police  station  for  some 


JS? 


The  Very  Young 

skeleton  keys.  I  know  the  fellow  at  the  desk, 
luckily." 

"Well,  I  suppose  you  might,"  agreed 
Belinda.  "Having  gotten  us  into  this  scrape, 
you  naturally  feel  it  your  duty  to  get  us  out 
of  it,  and  I  ought  not  to  put  any  obstacles  in 
your  way,  though  I  must  say  that  I  should  have 
preferred  to  make  acquaintance  with  my  neigh 
bors  at  some  more  convenient  hour." 

"That  is  the  very  thing;  we  will  go  at  once !" 
cried  Miss  Adams,  who  had  been  leaning  de 
jectedly  against  the  door-frame,  ever  since, 
their  last  avenue  of  escape  had  been  closed. 
"Oh,  goodness  gracious  me !  What  shall  I  do 
now  ?" 

"What's  the  matter  now?"  demanded 
Belinda,  crossly. 

"My  dress  is  caught  fast  in  the  door,  and 
I  can't  move!"  wailed  Miss  Adams.  "Don't 
go  away  and  leave  me  alone;  I  shall  die,  if  you 
do,  and  my  blood  will  be  on  your  head.  No, 
Dolly,  you  can't  get  me  loose  without  pulling 
the  house  down,  and  I  don't  want  to  do  that." 
She  looked  tragically  at  Dolly;  Dolly  gazed 


And  the  Angel  Child 

sorrowfully  at  Belinda,  and  Belinda  turned  re 
proachful  eyes  on  the  Very  Young  Man. 

"Then,  I  suppose  I  had  better  go  and  tele 
phone  for  the  keys."  He  tried  to  speak  cheer 
fully,  as  his  eyes  fell  on  his  bedroom  slippers. 
"You  are  not  afraid  to  be  left  alone,  are 
you?" 

"Not  at  all,"  replied  Belinda,  cheerfully. 
"It  is  the  best  thing  that  you  can  do." 

"But  he  will  have  a  dreadful  cold,  Belinda, 
dear.  I  am  afraid  he  is  going  to  have  pneu 
monia,  anyhow ;  just  listen  how  he  sneezes !" 

"Pneumonia  does  not  begin  with  sneezing. 
Besides,  he  can  take  some  medicine,  when  he 
gets  in."  She  sat  down  on  the  upper  step  to 
await  the  return  of  the  lightly-clad  messenger. 

At  the  corner,  the  Very  Young  Man  was 
hailed  by  a  familiar  voice. 

"Hello,  Sweeting!  What's  up?  From 
your  attire,  I  gather  that  it  is  either  a  case  of 
paresis  or,  at  the  least,  a  temporary  aberra 
tion  of  the  mind.  Are  you  too  far  gone  to 
recognize  your  friends  ?  Because " 

"Tracy,   thank  goodness!     Now,   why  did 

m 


The  Very  Young 

I  never  think  of  you?  Have  you  your  latch 
key  about  you?" 

"I  wish  I  was  as  sure  that  you  had  your  wits. 
What's  the  matter?  Is  it  burglars,  this  time, 
or  fire,  or " 

"The  ladies — Miss  Watterson,  Miss  Manly 
and  Miss  Adams  went  to  the  theater,  without 
their  latch-keys.  They  rang  our  bell  and  I 
came  down,  thinking  it  was  a  messenger.  I 
stepped  out  to  look  for  Miss  Manly's  pocket- 
book,  which  she  had  dropped,  and  the  door 
blew  shut,  with  a  fold  of  Miss  Adams'  dress 

fast  in  it.  They For  Heaven's  sake, 

Tracy,  don't  laugh  in  that  fashion !  Come  and 
open  the  door,  so  that  the  ladies  can  get  in, 
and  I  can  go  where  I  can  obtain  more  clothes, 
even  if  I  need  them  less !" 

"Oh,  dear,  he  is  gone  a  long  time,  isn't  he? 
Do  you  think  anything  has  happened  to  him, 
Miss  Adams?"  cried  Dolly.  "I  shall  never 

forgive  myself  if Gracious,  Belinda, 

what  is  the  matter  now?" 

"My  key,  my  key !"     She  waved  it  excitedly 


And  the  Angel  Child 

in  the  air.  "It  was  in  my  glove  all  the  time. 
That  is,  it  isn't  my  key;  it  is  yours,  Dolly.  I 
remember  now  that  I  picked  it  up  from  the 
dressing  table,  as  we  were  starting,  and  put 
it  in  my  glove  that  it  might  be  all  ready  when 
we  reached  home.  Well,  now,  I  can  let  you 
both  in,  and  I  only  hope  that  it  may  prove  a 
lesson  to " 

"Then,  what  do  you  mean  by  keeping  us  out 
here  half  the  night,  if  you  had  the  key  in  your 
glove  all  the  time?"  demanded  Miss  Adams, 
fiercely. 

But  Belinda  made  no  reply.  With  fingers 
which  trembled,  she  was  fitting  the  key  into  the 
lock. 

"Here  I  am,  and  here  is  Tracy  with  his  key !" 
cried  the  Very  Young  Man,  cheerfully;  "I 
met  him  at  the  corner,  and  it  is  all  right." 

"I  am  sorry  that  you  troubled  yourself  un 
necessarily,"  said  Belinda,  with  distant  polite 
ness.  "I  am  just  opening  the  door  myself. 
You  see,  I  was — er — a  little  upset  at  the 
thought  that  Dolly  and  Miss  Adams  had  been  so 

careless,  and  so " 

J93 


The  Very  Young 

"You  forgot  you  had  your  key?"  said  Tracy, 
affably.  "I  see.  Well,  Miss  Manly,  you 
know  it  takes  three  generations  to  make  a 
gentleman.  The  use  and  care  of  the  latch-key 
is  an  hereditary  instinct,  as  you  are  doubt 
less  aware." 

Belinda  made  no  reply;  she  was  vanishing 
up  the  stairs,  with  Miss  Adams  in  her  wake. 
Dolly  lingered  a  moment. 

"I  am  very,  very  much  obliged  to  you,  Mr. 
Sweeting.  You  must  not  think  Belinda  is  un 
grateful,  either;  you  see,  she  is  very  tired  to 
night.  I  hope  you  have  not  caught  a  bad  cold. 
Good-night." 

The  Very  Young  Man  took  the  extended 
hand,  but  what  arfswer  he  was  about  to  make, 
will  never  be  known,  for  it  was  smothered  in 
a  gigantic  sneeze. 

"What  is  the  matter?  Oh,  tell  me  what  is 
the  matter !  Don't  try  to  conceal  it  from  me." 
It  was  the  voice  of  the  Matron,  on  the  upper 
landing.  "I  know  that  it  is  bad  news  for  me, 
and  you  need  not  try  to  prepare  me  for  it.  I 
am  aroused  by  the  merest  whisper,  and  as  soon 
J94 


And  the  Angel  Child 

as  I  heard  you  talking  in  the  hall,  I  knew  that 
you  were  making  ready  to  break  it  gently." 

"There  is  nothing  wrong,  Mrs.  Wycoff; 
indeed,  there  is  not,"  called  Dolly.  "I  am 
so  sorry  that  we  have  disturbed  you.  We  have 
just  come  from  the  theater — at  least  we  came 
some  time  ago.  We  had  forgotten  our  latch 
keys,  all  of  us — that  is,  except  Belinda — and 
we  couldn't  get  in,  so " 

"An'  phwat  is  it  now?"  It  was  the  mellow 
tones  of  the  janitor,  at  the  basement  door.  "Is 
it  a  foight,  or  is  it  only  me  woife  comin'  home? 
If  it's  a  foight,  you  needn't  say  annything,  an' 
if  it's  me  woife,  she'll  say  something  annyhow. 
Oh,  it's  yourself,  is  it,  Mr.  Tracy?  Then  it's 
all  right,  even  if  it's  wrong." 

"Hello,  good  people;  are  you  getting  up  a 
continuous  performance  in  the  hall?  If  so, 
it  is  evident  that  you  are  trying  it,  in  theatrical 
parlance,  on  the  dog."  It  was  the  voice  of 
the  Philosopher.  There  was  a  smothered  ex 
clamation,  and  the  Matron's  door  shut  sud 
denly.  "Ah,  well,  every  dog  has  his  day,  but 
it  is  seldom  prolonged  until  one  A.M.,  unless 
J95 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

he  is  a  very  sad  dog  indeed;  therefore, 
I " 

There  was  a  series  of  sounds,  as  if  several 
doors  closed  simultaneously,  and  presently 
that  of  the  Philosopher  closed  also. 

"Oh,  Belinda,  I  am  so  sorry !"  wailed  Dolly, 
as  she  entered  the  room,  and  found  Belinda  in 
a  dejected  heap  on  the  couch. 

"W — what  did  he  say?"  came  a  muffled 
voice. 

"He  didn't  say  anything;  but  if  you  could 
only  have  heard  him  sneeze!" 

"Who?     Mr.  Hardy?" 

"Goosie!  no!  Mr.  Sweeting!  You  were 
asking " 

"Dolly  Watterson,  I  asked  you  a  plain  ques 
tion,  and  your  reply  is  as  ambiguous  as  it  would 
be  if  you  were  a  policeman,  and  I  had  asked 
my  way  of  you!" 

"Oh,  Mr.  Hardy!  He  wanted  to  know  if 
we  were  giving  a  continuous  performance  in 
the  hall.  I  think  Mr.  Tracy  went  up  to  tell 
him  all  about  it.  But  it  doesn't  make  any  dif- 


J96 


And  the  Angel  Child 

ference,  now  that  we  are  in  the  house  once 
more." 

"It  doesn't  make  any  difference!  It  makes 
no  difference  that  the  only  sensible  man  in  the 
house  thinks  me  an  idiot — and  when  it  is  all 
my  own  fault,  too!" 

"Your  own  fault!"  Dolly  stood  aghast. 
"Oh,  Belinda,  darling,  what  is  the  matter? 
You  must  be  very  ill  to  say  that,  even  if  you 
don't  mean  it.  Blame  me,  blame  anybody, 
and  then  I  shall  know  it  is  all  right;  but  don't 
talk  in  that  fashion,  or  I  shall  think  you  are 
delirious !" 

But  Belinda  made  no  reply;  she  wept. 


J97 


Chapter  X 

"WE  not  only  know  where  our  own  shoes 
pinch,  but  we  are  likewise  aware  of  the  fact 
that  they  pinch  worse  than  the  shoes  of  anyone 
else  can  possibly  pinch,"  mused  the  Philoso 
pher,  gazing  thoughtfully  at  the  assembled 
company. 

"And  your  own  particular  pinch  is  ?" 

queried  the  Matron,  with  an  interested  air. 

"The  fact  that  the  Reaper,  whose  name  is 
Matrimony,  has  taken  away  my  handmaid," 
sighed  the  Philosopher.  "Now,  all  bad  cooks 
and  most  pretty  women  marry,  but  Katrine 
seemed,  by  the  conspiracy  of  art  and  nature, 
especially  fitted  for  the  position  she  occupied 
in  my  small  household.  Nature  had  made 
her  so  homely  that  no  iceman  lingered  about 
my  door,  and  the  groceries  were  delivered  with 
out  unnecessary  speech;  as  for  art,  it  had 
made  her  a  good  cook,  and  I  felt,  therefore, 
J99 


The  Very  Young  Man 

reasonably  certain  of  having  her  soups  and 
salads  smooth  my  modest  pathway  to  the 
grave." 

"And  now  she  has  promptly  married  a  man 
who  does  not  know  good  sala'd  from  bad,  and 
rather  prefers  the  latter,  I  suppose,"  said 
Tracy.  "Ah,  well,  Hardy,  there  is  nothing  cer 
tain  in  this  life  save  matrimony  and  gas  bills." 

"Too  true,"  admitted  the  Philosopher.  "In 
this  case,  I  was  mine  own  undoing.  I  hired 
a  carpenter  to  put  up  some  bookshelves  in  the 
doorway  between  the  sitting-room  and  my 
own  apartment.  From  the  length  of  time  re 
quired  by  the  operation,  I  feared  that  involun 
tary  bankruptcy  must  inevitably  follow  the 
presentation  of  his  bill.  I  was  agreeably  dis 
appointed  in  its  size.  How  could  I  know,  I 
ask  you,  that  the  carpenter  was  a  recent 
widower  with  seven  small  children,  and  that 
Katrine  was  possessed  of  a  sympathetic  na 
ture?" 

"Of  course,  you  couldn't  know  it,"  returned 
the  Matron;  "and  by  the  time  the  bill  came 
in,  it  was  too  late.  To  think  that  you  singled 
200 


And  the  Angel  Child 

out  that  especial  carpenter  from  the  hundreds 
of  married  men  and  woman  haters,  who  could 
have  done  the  job  equally  well?  Well,  after 
this,  when  you  have  a  good  cook  and  want  any 
improvements  or  repairs  made,  be  sure  to  select 
a  man  whose  buttons  show  that  he  has  not 
sewed  them  on  himself.  Nothing  predisposes 
a  man  to  marry  even  a  homely  woman,  so 
surely,  as  the  threading  of  a  few  needles." 

"I  shall  remember  your  good  advice — if  I 
ever  have  the  luck  to  need  it  again.  The  most 
distressing  phase  of  the  whole  affair  is  the  fact 
that  Katrine  looks  upon  me  as  her  benefactor 
and,  in  consequence,  I  shall  be  expected  to  look 
after  the  family,  if  he  is  out  of  work.  She  ex 
pects  to  be  married  in  a  week,  and  in  the  in 
terval  she  evidently  feels  that  I  will  not  expect 
clear  coffee  or  well-cooked  beefsteak,  with 
Cupid  at  the  door.  She  boiled  the  dishcloth, 
instead  of  the  potatoes  yesterday,  and  then 
wondered  how  it  could  have  happened !" 

"Perhaps  it  was  merely  her  womanly  way 
of  softening  the  blow  of  her  departure,"  sug 
gested  Tracy,  "I  sympathize  with  you,  my 
'20* 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

dear  fellow ;  I,  too,  have  known  the  sad  words, 
'What  is  Home  without  a  Cook/  to  come  crash 
ing  through  my  brain." 

"Mrs.  Rafferty  says  the  best  thing  you  can 
do  is  to  get  married,  Mr.  Hardy,"  said  the 
Angel  Child,  suddenly.  "She  thinks  you 
would  be  a  happier  and  a  better  man  if  you  had 
somebody  to  see  that  you  didn't  smoke  so  much 
and  get  your  own  way  all  the  time.  I  heard 
her  tell  Miss  Belinda  so  this  morning,  and  Miss 
Belinda  said " 

"Edward  Faversham  Wycoff!"  cried  the 
Matron,  severely. 

"No,  mamma,  she  didn't  say  that,  at  all. 
She  said " 

"Come  here,  darling,  and  get  some  of  these 
nice  chocolates,"  said  Dolly,  coaxingly. 

"I  will  in  a  minute,  Dolly.     She  said " 

"It  looks  very  much  like  rain,  does  it  not?" 
remarked  Miss  Adams.  "However,  it  has 
been  so  bright  for  the  last  few  days  that  we 
must  expect  rain  soon." 

"Indeed,    we     must,"    stammered    Belinda. 
"I — I  don't  really  mind  rain,  do  you?" 
202 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Not  unless  I  am  wearing  a  new  gown," 
returned  Evelyn.  "Oh,  Belinda,  Anne  wore 
that  adorable  red  cloth  of  hers  to  a  tea  the  other 
day,  and  some  one  upset  a  whole  glass  of  punch 
over  it — right  down  the  front  breadth." 

"Yes,  and  Mr.  Silley's  mother  was  there, 
and  she  couldn't  do  anything  but  smile,  and 
say  that  it  really  didn't  matter !"  cried  Mae. 

"Ah,  well,  necessity  is  the  mother  of  inven 
tion,  in  polite  conversation,  at  any  rate,"  ob 
served  Tracy,  airily. 

"It  was  in  this  case,"  smiled  Evelyn.  "I 
wonder  why  girls  do  everything  to  please  a 
potential  mother-in-law,  and  nothing  to  please 
a  certain  one  ?  Poor  Anne,  she  is  so  dull ;  why, 
she  couldn't  see  anything  funny  in  the  affair, 
even  when  I  stopped  laughing  and  explained 
it  to  her.  I  often  fear  that  she  is,  indeed, 
hardly  fitted  for  matrimony;  since  she  has  no 
sense  of  humor." 

"Speaking  of  teas,  I  wonder  who  invented 
them  ?"  said  Dolly,  who  was  feeding  the  Angel 
Child  with  cake,  bon-bons  and  other  indigesti- 
bles, 

203 


The  Very  Young 

"The  enemy  of  man,  I  suppose,"  smiled 
Tracy.  "At  least,  I  have  heard  him  credited 
with  the  invention." 

"No  one,  save  the  society  editor,  ever  speaks 
well  of  them — and  yet  we  accept,  when  we  are 
bidden  to  them,  and  then  wonder  why  we 
haven't  enjoyed  them,"  mused  Belinda. 

"Perhaps  the  lions  enjoy  them,"  suggested 
the  Very  Young  Man.  "As  for  the  rest  of 
us,  we  merely  go  to  see  the  lions  fed;  so  we 
might  at  least  come  away  content." 

"In  counting  up  our  mercies,  let  us  be  thank 
ful  that  we  are  not  social  lions,"  quoth  the  Phi 
losopher.  "We  may  be  growing  a  bit  scanty 
in  the  hair,  yet  the  public  prints  take  no  notice 
of  that  fact,  so  distressing  to  every  man  of  a 
sensitive  nature.  We  may  go  to  a  tea  occa 
sionally,  but  it  is  for  pleasure,  not  business,  and 
our  autographs  are  chiefly  valuable  when  ap 
pended  to  checks.  Strangers  seldom  ask  us 
questions  of  so  intimate  a  character  that  our 
nearest  and  dearest  might  hesitate  before  giv 
ing  them  voice ;  and  we  need  never  eat  but  one 
dinner  a  day.  Decidedly,  when  the  wind  is  in 
204 


And  the  Angel  Child 

the  east  and  our  highest  collars  have  developed 
in  the  hands  of  the  laundryman,  an  edge 
sharper  than  the  serpent's  tooth,  let  us  be  thank 
ful  that  we  are  not  social  lions." 

"Oh,  but  I  always  thought  it  must  be  delight 
ful  to  be  a  lion,"  said  Dolly,  timidly.  "People 
always  remember  when  they  have  met  them  be 
fore,  and " 

"There  are  even  some  who  have  such  ab 
normally  good  memories  that  they  can  remem 
ber  previous  meetings  which  have  never  taken 
place,"  broke  in  the  Matron.  "Well,  I  ad 
mit  that  I  should  like  to  be  a  lion,  but  I  should 
hate  to  be  the  wife  of  one.  Think  of  having 
to  sit  opposite  to  him  at  breakfast,  when  the 
morning  paper  said  unpleasant  things  about 
him,  and  he  had  found  one  of  your  bills  in  his 
morning  mail !  And  then,  suppose,  if  he  were 
a  writer,  he  made  'copy'  of  the  scene  which 
followed,  and  all  your  dearest  friends  were  thus 
made  aware  of  things  you  would  much  rather 
have  kept  in  the  family !" 

"There  is  something  in  that,"  said  Evelyn, 
thoughtfully;  "and  even  the  best  of  people  ex- 
205 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

pect  a  lion  to  be  unhappy  in  his  domestic  life. 
His  admirers  somehow  seem  to  take  it  as  a 
personal  compliment,  when  he  is.  And  I  must 
say  that  pleasure  is  seldom  denied  them,"  she 
added. 

"No  lion  is  a  hero  to  his  wife,  I  suppose," 
observed  Tracy,  smiling.  "Don't  look  so 
shocked,  Miss  Watterson;  I  know  something 
about  lions  myself.  I  have  interviewed  them, 
in  dress  clothes,  at  three  A.M.,  and  in  pajamas, 
at  noon,  and  I  usually  find  myself  obliged  to 
put  most  of  their  clever  speeches  into  my  copy 
after  I  get  back  to  the  office.  I  have  had  them 
declare  that  the  press  was  vulgarly  inquisitive, 
and  that  they  never  even  looked  at  the  things 
which  had  been  written  about  them.  But  the 
necessary  half  bushel  of  clippings  was  never 
very  far  away,"  he  added. 

"Perhaps  that  is  the  hitherto  inexplicable 
reason  for  which  your  lion  marries — he  needs 
some  one  to  attend  to  his  clippings,"  said  the 
Philosopher,  thoughtfully.  "Well,  every 
woman  thinks  for  at  least  three  weeks  that 
§he  has  married  a  genius,  so  no  lion  wins  his 
206 


And  the  Angel  Child 

wife  under  false  pretenses.  I  doubt,  though, 
whether  the  latter  fact  is  much  comfort  to  her 
when  he  mentally  vivisects  her  for  'copy/  if  he 
is  a  writer,  or  has  her  out  of  bed  at  four  A.M., 
to  attend  to  his  throat,  if  he  is  a  singer." 

"I  had  rather  marry  a  lion  than  an  unap 
preciated  genius,  anyhow,"  remarked  Mae.  "I 
have  often  observed  that  such  geniuses  take  out 
the  indifference  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  upon 
the  only  person  who  really  admires  their  work." 

The  Philosopher  smiled.  "The  genius  who 
writes  for  posterity  is  the  only  really  happy 
genius,  after  all,"  he  said.  "You  see,  when 
posterity  gets  a  chance  to  express  its  opinion, 
of  his  works,  he  will  not  be  in  a  position  to  take 
active  interest  in  the  matter.  By  all  means, 
if  we  must  write  plays  or  symphonies,  let  us 
write  them  for  posterity !" 

"I've  often  wondered  what  becomes  of  lions, 
when  they  are  not  at  afternoon  teas,"  said 
Mae ;  "or  of  tenors,  when  it  is  too  early  to  wear 
a  dress  coat!  And,  by  the  way,  Mr.  Tracy, 
why  does  the  average  man  always  looks  so  un 
happy  in  a  dress  coat?" 
207 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"Perhaps  he  is  regretting  that  he  is  not  the 
waiter,  Miss  Blossom;  the  man  who  gives  the 
tips,  should  not  be  expected  to  look  as  joy 
ous  as  the  one  who  receives  them." 

"True,"  said  Evelyn.  "And  have  you  ever 
noticed  how  unhappy  the  most  generous  woman 
always  looks,  when  her  husband  tips  anyone 
in  her  presence?  You  haven't?  Well,  I  sup 
pose  that  is  because  you  are  neither  a  woman, 
nor  a  married  man.  But  I  must  tell  you  of  an 
awful  thing  that  happened  to  me,  the  other 
day.  I  went  to  a  tea,  and  I  didn't  know  an 
earthly  thing  about  the  lion  in  whose  honor  it 
was  given.  After  I  got  there,  I  asked  several 
people  what  he  had  done,  but  they  all  seemed 
so  shocked  at  my  ignorance  that  I  knew  they 
were  no  wiser  than  myself." 

"Unless  in  the  fact  that  they  did  not  ask 
any  questions,  dear,"  returned  Mae;  "there 
are  so  many  other  ways  of  finding  out  things 
you  want  to  know,  without  descending  to  the 
brutality  of  questions." 

"The  person  who  is  wise  enough  not  to  ask 
questions,  is  usually  wise  enough  not  to  need 
208 


And  the  Angel  Child 

the  answers,  dear.  Where  was  I  ?  Oh !  I  was 
duly  introduced  to  the  lion  and  a  lot  of  people 
who  seemed  to  be  of  his  party,  but  the  hostess 
spoke  his  name  so  confidentially  that,  if  I  had 
not  seen  it  already  on  the  card  of  invitation, 
I  should  never  have  guessed  it.  I  picked  him 
out  easily  enough,  however,  by  the  fact  that 
he  was  the  only  man  present  who  did  not  look 
bored.  He  was  awfully  stupid,  too,  just  said, 
'Delighted  to  meet,  I'm  sure,'  and  went  on  talk 
ing  to  Louise,  as  if  he  actually  enjoyed  her 
conversation." 

"Perhaps  it  was  only  his  own,"  suggested 
Tracy. 

"Possibly ;  I  hadn't  thought  of  that.  At  any 
rate,  I  found  myself  standing  beside  the  ugliest 
little  man  I  ever  saw.  He  had  such  a  flurried 
air  that  I  saw  at  once  I  had  impressed  him  as 
one  of  the  clever  people  who  were  so  carefully 
avoiding  each  other  in  the  crowded  rooms. 
After  we  had  talked  a  few  minutes,  I  saw  my 
chance,  and  said  :  'Won't  you  please  tell  me 
what  on  earth  the  lion  has  done ;  I  never  heard 
of  him  until  I  was  asked  to  meet  him  here.' 
20? 


The  Very  Young  Man 

And,  oh,  Mae,  promise,  never,  never  to  tell 
this  at  the  boarding-house,  as  long  as  you  live !" 

"I  won't,  dear,  unless  you  forget  and  tell  it 
differently  at  the  table;  forgetfulness  is  con 
tagious,  you  know.  But  what  was  the  matter  ? 
Was  he  so  distinguished  that " 

"  'I — I  don't  know,'  he  replied ;  'really,  you 
know,  I  can't  do  that  without  laying  myself 
open  to  the  charge  of  vanity.' ' 

"Mercy,  was  he  the  lion?  I  thought  the 
other " 

"So  did  I,  dear ;  but  it  seems  that  I  was  mis 
taken.  You  don't  know  of  any  one  who  wants 
to  sell  an  encyclopedia  cheap,  do  you  ?  I  shall 
need  one,  if  I  go  to  many  more  lion  teas  this 
winter." 

"At  any  rate,  Miss  Whiting,  your  misfortune 
goes  to  prove  what  I  have  always  suspected : 
that  all  lions  publicly  exhibited  should  be 
labeled,"  remarked  the  Philosopher. 

"In  order  that  they  may  not  be  libeled,"  said 
Belinda.  "Yes,  it  would  be  a  good  idea — pro 
vided  that  each  lion  be  allowed  to  write  his  own 
label!" 

210 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Excellent,  but  with  one  more  amendment; 
he  should  be  restricted  in  the  size  of  his  label. 
Otherwise,  the  other  guests  might  go  away 
without  really  seeing  him,  thus  rendering  the 
hostess  liable  for  obtaining  guests  under  false 
pretenses,"  said  Tracy. 

"Mr.  Sweeting  says  that  Dolly  would  never 
need  lions  to  make  people  come  to  her  teas," 
announced  the  Angel  Child.  "I  suppose  that 
is  because  she  has  so  many  nice  things  to  eat." 

"Doubtless,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Tracy, 
with  much  gravity.  "It  is  at  once  evident, 
even  to  the  dullest  intellect,  that  Miss  Wat- 
terson  has  discovered  a  short  cut  in  the  path 
which  leads  to  the  masculine  heart." 

"Ah — er — is  that  the  explanation  of  the 
phenomenon?"  murmured  Evelyn.  "How  nice 
of  you  to  explain  it  to  us ;  I  never  could  under 
stand  why  the  men  rather  liked  her.  Still,  I 
suppose  there  are  people  who  might — ah — call 
her  rather  good  looking?" 

"I  have  no  doubt  of  it,"  responded  Tracy, 
quietly. 

"Ah,  well,  gray  matter  is  unevenly  divided, 
211 


The  Very  Young 

you  know,"  said  Mae.  "You  need  not  apolo 
gize  for  them,  Mr.  Tracy.  But  what  has  hap 
pened,  Evelyn,  that  you  are  raving  over  Dolly 
in  that  fashion  ?  Has  she  developed  a  wealthy 
and  handsome  cousin?  Or,  is  it " 

"Merely  my  affection  for  her,  dear.  Who 
could  help  being  fond  of  a  girl  who  is  about 
to  marry  as  badly  as  Dolly  is?" 

"True,  dear.  You  are  always  so  clever,  that 
I  had  rather  have  you  for  a  friend  any  day, 
than  an  enemy — especially  as  you  would  know 
all  my  secrets  in  either  case." 

"But  I  don't  understand,"  said  Tracy,  look 
ing  mystified.  "I  thought  that  Miss  Watter- 
son  had  decided  to  remain  a  bachelor  maid, 
with  a  latch-key  in  her  possession,  if  not  in 
her  pocket,  and  sofa  pillows  enough  to  soften 
all  the  buffetings  of  fate !" 

Mae  and  Evelyn  looked  smilingly  at  each 
other,  and  then  pityingly  at  Tracy. 

"She  says  so,"  replied  Evelyn,  in  a  peculiar 
tone. 

"I  suppose  you  have  never  noticed  that  she 
is  careful  never  to  glance  towards  the  door 
212 


And  the  Angel  Child 

when  Mr.  Sweeting  comes  in,  and  yet  she 
greets  him  by  name  when  he  comes  over  to  the 
table?"  observed  Mae. 

"Or  that  she  is  additionally  affectionate  to 
the  Angel  Child  when  he  happens  to  be  in  the 
room?"  added  Evelyn. 

"Or  that  she  has  taken  to  inviting  her  friends 
to  share  their  walks  and  talks?" 

"Or  that  she  starts,  and  turns  pink  every 
time  the  door-bell  rings  ?" 

"I  have  never  noticed  one  of  these  things; 
but  then  I  am  only  a  man,"  replied  Tracy,  with 
humility.  "What  can  you  expect  of  me,  I 
ask?" 

"Very  little,"  cruelly  answered  Evelyn. 
"Still,  you  are  Mr.  Sweeting's  friend." 

"I  shall  soon  be  his  enemy,  unless  he  learns 
to  put  more  variety  into  his  conversation, 
One  day,  he  talks  of  making  a  name  and  a 
fortune  while  you  wait;  the  next,  he  speaks 
warmly  of  suicide." 

"And  still  you  doubt  that  she  cares  for  him !" 
cried  Mae.  "Don't  you  know  that  he  would 
be  certain  of  winning  her,  if  she  did  not  care 
2*3 


a  penny  for  him?  In  that  case,  she  would 
have  no  moods  of  her  own;  and  would  always 
be  nice  to  him." 

"So  that  he  would  have  no  mental  ups  and 
downs?  I  see.  Ladies,  I  am  a  worm  in  the 
dust ;  a  mere " 

"Man,"  finished  Mae.  "After  all,  it  is  just 
as  well  that  all  of  you  are  mentally  near 
sighted.  If  you  were  not,  courtship  would 
be  robbed  of  many  of  its  joys  to  the  courted 
one,  and  of  all  its  interest  to  the  intelligent 
observer." 

"Goot  efening,"  said  the  voice  of  Mrs.  Raf- 
ferty,  from  the  doorway.  "I  vants  nod  to 
disturp  you,  Mr.  Hardy;  but  I  dinks  you  hat 
petter  keep  an  eyes  on  dot  Katrine  a  liddle. 
I  smells  a  gread  smells  in  de  halls  a  whiles  ago, 
und  I  goes  oop  to  see  vat  de  matters  vas.  I 
find  dot  soup  had  burned  to  a  crisps,  vile  she 
cries  because  she  fears  dat  man  she  marries 
loafed  his  first  vife  some.  I  dells  her  dot  it 
makes  not  how  much  a  man  has  loafed  one 
vifes,  he  can  always  loaf  another  yoost  so  veil, 


2J4 


And  the  Angel  Child 

und  another,  too,  if  he  vas  vidowered  some 
more." 

"That  was  very  kind  of  you,  Mrs.  Rafferty," 
said  the  Philosopher.  "My  effects  are  all  in 
sured,  but  my  dinner,  alas,  was  not.  Well, 
I  shall  e'en  wend  my  melancholy  way  to  a  res 
taurant  and  muse " 

"Indeed,  you  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind, 
Mr.  Hardy,"  broke  in  the  Matron;  "you  will 
dine  with  me  to-day  and  forget  your  sorrows, 
for  the  time.  My  cook  is  but  recently 
divorced,  and  I  can  guarantee  that  she  is  not 
at  all  in  love,  so  come  and  take  pot  luck." 

"Why,  mamma!"  cried  the  Angel  Child, 
"you  told  papa  that  he  was  never  to  ask  a  man 
to  come  and  take  pot  luck,  unless  he  gave  you 
at  least  twenty-four  hours'  notice.  And  Mr. 
Hardy  never  refuses  a  second  helping,  even  if 
there  is  only  a  little  in  the  dish.  I  heard  you 
say  so  to  Aunt  Alice,  just  the  other  day.  Why, 
mamma,  what  have  I  done  now?  I  only " 

"Dot  Katrine  vill  cook  you  no  more  goot 
dinners,  Mr.  Hardy,  unless  you  tells  her  to  in 
vite  dot  man  she  marries  nexdt  veek,  to  come 
2J5 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

und  eats  them  too.  I  dinks  id  vill  pe  all  right 
in  dot  gase."  Mrs.  Rafferty  gave  a  scrutiniz 
ing  look  at  the  tea  table,  then  with  a  compre 
hensive  smile  at  the  assembled  company,  she 
vanished. 

"I  am  evidently  needed  above  stairs,"  sighed 
the  Philosopher.  "Alas,  Man  is  '  usually  the 
victim  of  circumstance,  when  he  least  deserves 
defeat." 

"And  a  victor,  when  he  does  not  particularly 
care  for  success,"  sighed  Tracy. 

"I — we  are  awfully  sorry  for  you,  Mr. 
Hardy,"  said  Belinda. 

"Especially  as  we  shall  also  be  burned  out, 
if  Katrine,  in  an  absent-minded  moment,  starts 
a  fire  in  the  building  instead  of  her  cook- 
stove,"  added  Miss  Adams. 

"Or  suffocated,  if  she  sends  many  more  such 
ambitious  odors  through  the  building,"  finished 
the  Very  Young  Man. 

"Your  sympathy  is  entirely  inadequate  to  the 

situation,    my    friends.      Amateur    sympathy 

usually  is,  however.     You  would  feel  for  me 

much  more,  if  you,  too,  did  not  know  where 

216 


And  the  Angel  Child 

your  next  meal  was  coming  from.  Farewell ;  I 
go  to  my  lonely  hearth — I  mean  steam  heater,  to 
muse  upon  the  total  depravity  of  widowed  car 
penters  and  the  mutability  of  things  terrestrial, 
especially  in  an  apartment  building." 

"I  won't  say  good-bye;  I'll  go  up  with  you, 
Mr.  Hardy,"  said  the  Angel  Child,  pleasantly. 
"I  want  to  see  Katrine,  anyhow.  And  I  don't 
see  why  you  don't  get  a  wife  to  keep  things 
comfortable,  and  scold  the  cook  for  you. 
Mamma  says  that  papa  would  be  awfully  un 
comfortable  if  she  didn't  keep  his  things  in 
order.  I  guess  she  must  be  mistaken  about 
him,  though;  for  when  we  went  to  stay  at 
Aunt  Clair's,  in  the  country  last  summer,  he 
got  everything  he  wanted  in  the  parlor,  where 
he  could  reach  it,  and  he  said  he  had  had  a 
lovely  time.  But  we're  never,  never  going 
away  without  him  again — mamma  says  so. 
And  I  think  you  do  need  a  wife,  though  Miss 
Belinda  says " 

"You  must  come  down  soon  and  tell  us  how 
you  are  getting  along,  and  if  we  can  be  of 
any  assistance  to  you,"  broke  in  Dolly. 
2J7 


The  Very  Yoxmg  Man 

"I  don't  see  why  nobody  listens  to  me,  when 
I  talk,"  wailed  the  Angel  Child.  "I  always 
listen  to  what  grown  people  are  saying.  Miss 
Belinda  says " 

"It  is  really  raining;  I  told  you  that  it 
would,"  said  Miss  Adams.  "A  spell  of  good 
weather  never  lasts  long  in  this  climate." 

When  the  Philosopher  had  unlocked  his 
door,  he  found  the  Angel  Child  beside  him. 

"I  really  want  to  see  Katrine,  to  find  out  if 
she  looks  different,"  he  said,  pleasantly. 

"You  want  to  see  her,  do  you?"  queried  the 
Philosopher.  "I  don't.  By  the  way,  Ned, 
what  did  Miss  Manly  say,  anyhow  ?" 

"She  said:  'I  am  sure  that  is  no  affair  of 
mine,  Mrs.  Rafferty.'  " 

"Oh !"  replied  the  Philosopher. 


2*8 


Chapter  XI 

"MAE  and  I  thought  you  might  be  lonesome, 
so  we  came  to  spend  the  afternoon  with  you," 
said  Evelyn,  as  Dolly  opened  the  door.  "If 
you  are  busy,  we  will  entertain  you,  and  if  you 
are  not,  you  can  amuse  us.  Mercy,  what  a 
huge  bunch  of  roses !  They  must  be  a  present, 
because  no  sensible  girl  would  buy  roses,  when 
she  needs  flowers;  carnations  are  so  much 
cheaper  and  last  twice  as  long." 

"Besides,  you  can  always  say  that  you  pre 
fer  their  perfume,"  added  Mae.  "But  you 
surely  haven't  had  a  birthday  without  letting  us 
know,  have  you,  Dolly  ?" 

"Indeed  I  have  not;  I  have  had  one  birth 
day  already  this  year,  and  I  am  not  greedy. 
They  were  sent  me  by — by  a  friend.  .Wasn't 
it  kind?" 

"Very,"  said  Evelyn,  dryly;  "and  the  kind 
ness  which  expresses  itself  in  American  Beau- 
219 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

ties,  at  their  present  price,  is  as  rare  as  a  hot 
dinner  in  a  boarding-house." 

."Who  did  you  say  sent  them  to  you,  Dolly?" 
asked  Mae.  "I  was  talking  to  Belinda,  and  did 
not  quite  catch  the  name.  Don't  look  that  way 
at  me,  Evelyn ;  I  really  didn't.  I  only " 

"Let  me  give  each  of  you  one,"  said  Dolly, 
hastily;  "there  are  so  many  that  it  really  seems 
selfish  to  keep  them."  With  fingers  which 
trembled  slightly,  she  selected  two  of  the  largest 
blossoms  and  presented  them  to  her  guests. 

"Is  it  really  true  that  Mr.  Sweeting  has  come 
into  a  fortune?"  queried  Evelyn.  "I  heard 
that  he  had,  but  one  can  only  believe  half  that 
one  hears." 

"And  it  does  no  harm  to  add  a  grain  of  salt 
to  that,"  said  Mae,  flippantly. 

"I  understand  that  a  long  pending  lawsuit 
concerning  some  English  property,  has  been 
settled  in  favor  of  his  brother  and  himself," 
said  Dolly,  quietly.  "Girls,  I  will  make  you  a 
cup  of  tea,  if  you  will  wait  a  few  moments. 
Belinda  is  cutting  out  aprons  on  the  tea  table, 
so  I  will  make  it  on  the  window-seat  instead." 
220 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"Do ;  it  will  be  more  sociable  that  way,  any 
how,"  said  Belinda.  "I  hate  to  stop  my  work, 
because  it  is  for  the  poor,  you  know.  We  who 
have  so  much  to  be  thankful  for,  should  al 
ways  remember  the  poor." 

"I  think  I  have  heard  that  sentiment  before," 
said  Mae.  "Well,  dear,  for  your  sake,  I  hope 
that  the  very  poor  are  anatomically  different 
from  the  moderately  well-to-do.  I  was  won 
dering  if  you  were  making  a  new  kind  of  a 
sofa  pillow  or  a  sunbonnet ;  I  did  not  like  to  ask 
you  what  it  was,  because  I  was  not  sure  that 
you  knew  yourself." 

"I  am  sorry  that  you  are  so  ignorant  in  such 
matters,"  rejoined  Belinda,  with  much  severity. 
"There  may  be — er — a  little  something  wrong 
with  these  aprons,  but  my  motives  are  of  the 
best." 

"I  am  sure  of  it ;  and  I  only  hope  the  wearers 
will  think  of  your  motives,  instead  of  the  re 
sult.  I  think  you  are  putting  sugar  into  the 
pot  instead  of  tea,  Dolly." 

"Ah — er — your  conversation  was  so  inter 
esting,  that  I  did  not  think  of  what  I  was  doing. 
22J 


The  Very  Young 

THat  is  a  lovely  hat  you  are  wearing  to-day, 
Mae." 

"Do  you  think  so,  dear?  You  never  said 
so  last  year,  when  it  was  new." 

"I — ah — suppose  that  one  gets  sort  of  ac 
customed  to  things,  and — and  likes  them  bet 
ter." 

"Possibly.  I  can't  say  that  I  feel  that  way 
in  regard  to  my  old  clothes.  But,  speaking  of 
getting  accustomed  to  things,  you  will  quite 
miss  Mr.  Sweeting,  will  you  not?  I  hear  that  he 
is  going  to  England  to  settle  up  the  estate  which 
has  fallen  to  his  brother  and  himself.  Well, 
I  hope  that  he  will  remember  his  friends  here, 
once  in  a  while.  However,  as  he  will  be  ab 
sent  some  months,  I  suppose  that  he  will  even 
have  time  to  forget  Gladys,  poor  girl." 

"Look  out,  Dolly!'  cried  Evelyn;  "you  are 
pouring  the  teapot  so  full  that  it  will  run  over. 
Gracious!  you  two  girls  are  acting  oddly  to 
day  Were  you  quarreling  when  we  came  in? 
Because  if  you  were,  we  will  go  away,  as  soon 
as  we  have  had  our  tea,  and  let  you  have  it  out. 
I  had  rather  be  interrupted  in  the  nicest  love 
222 


And  the  Angel  Child 

scene  in  a  new  novel,  than  in  the  midst  of  a 
quarrel  with  my  dearest  friend." 

"An  interruption  is  not  really  so  bad,  when 
one  is  getting  the  worst  of  it,"  observed  Mae, 
thoughtfully;  "it  gives  one  time  to  bring  up 
fresh  ammunition  and  sometimes  turns  the  tide 
of  battle." 

"Dolly  and  I  never  quarrel,"  said  Belinda, 
with  great  dignity;  "we  sometimes  have  little 
differences  of  opinion,  but  that  is  all." 

"Just  as  married  people  do,"  smiled  Evelyn ; 
"of  course.  One  would  as  soon  confess  one's 
exact  age  as  the  fact  that  one  had  been  quarrel 
ing  desperately." 

"Belinda  has  a  great  deal  of  patience  with 
me,  I  am  sure,"  sighed  Dolly.  "We — we  look 
forward  to  a  very  peaceful  and  happy  old  age 
together,  don't  we,  dear?  Mercy,  what  was 
that?"  she  started  violently,  as  did  Belinda. 

"Merely  a  knock  at  the  door,  goosie.  Are 
you  expecting  any  bills  to-day?  Because  if 
you  are,  I " 

"Oh,  it  is  you,  is  it,  Mr.  Sweeting!"  said 
Belinda,  in  a  relieved  tone  of  voice.  "And 
223 


The  Very  Young  Man 

here  is  Edward,  too.  Come  in,  both  of  you. 
We  did  not  expect  to  see  you  again,  Mr.  Sweet 
ing,  since  you  were  here  this  morning.  You 
must  have  a  great  deal  to  do,  if  you  sail  to 
morrow.  It  is  very  good  of  you,  I  am  sure." 

"I  was  busy,  very  busy,  indeed,  Miss  Manly ; 
but " 

"Nonsense,"  broke  in  Mae ;  "a  man  can  start 
for  the  antipodes  with  a  clean  collar  and  a  tooth 
brush.  It  is  the  one  thing  I  envy  him — that, 
and  the  ability  to  say  what  he  really  feels,  when 
things  go  wrong.  It  must  almost  make  up  for 
having  always  to  pay  other  people's  car  fare, 
as  well  as  your  own." 

"Possibly,"  murmured  the  Very  Young 
Man,  with  the  air  of  a  person  who  has  not 
quite  heard  the  last  remark.  "Yes,  I  was  very 
busy,  but  our  young  friend  entreated  me  to 
come  with  him,  and  I " 

"Why,  Mr.  Sweeting,  you  are  as  xorgetful 
as  grandma !  I  said  I  had  rather  stay  and  help 
you  pack,  as  I  did  that  day  you  sent  all  the 
photographs  and  embroidered  things  back,  you 
know.  Don't  you  remember  ?  .  .You  said  that 
224' 


And  the  Angel  Child 

you  thought  Miss  Belinda  had  another  one  of 
those  fruit  cakes,  and  I  said  I'd  come,  then. 
I  don't  see  any  of  it  now,  do  you?  Perhaps 
you  were  mistaken,  as  you  were  when  you  said 
that " 

"Never  mind,  Edward;  we  are  glad  to  see 
you,  anyhow;  we're  not  offended,"  said  Dolly, 
in  a  queer,  shaky  voice.  "Truthfulness  is  a 
virtue  not  to  be  despised  by  people  having  deal 
ings  with  the  race  of  dressmakers  and  jani 
tors."  She  turned  to  the  Very  Young  Man; 
her  eyes  fastened  on  the  pin  in  his  necktie.  "It 
was  awfully  kind  of  you  to  send  me  all  those 
lovely  roses,"  she  said,  in  lower  tones. 

"The  roses  which  you  appreciated  so  much, 
that  you  are  giving  them  away !" 

"I  was  not  to  be  outdone  in  generosity  by 
you,"  she  retorted.  "Gracious!  is  that  the 
kettle  boiling  over?" 

"Never  mind,"  spoke  Belinda,  serenely; 
"you  frequently  do  let  it  boil  over  when  you 
make  the  tea,  so  I  put  the  kettle  on  the  new 
square  of  green  velveteen.  It  is  beautifully 
faded  already,  Evelyn." 
225 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

"I  sail  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  morning, 
and  the  business  may  take  a  year  to  settle,  Miss 
Dolly,"  said  the  Very  Young  Man.  "A  year 
is  a  long  time." 

"Nonsense,  Mr.  Sweeting;  it  is  not  long, 
when  one  is  over  ten,"  said  Dolly,  cheerfully; 
"and  besides,  you  will  be  so  busy  that  you " 

"Why,  Dolly  Waterson!  You  are  filling 
both  the  cup  and  the  saucer !"  called  the  watch 
ful  Evelyn. 

"I — it  is  for  Mae,  and  she  is  so  fond  of 
tea." 

"Not  on  her  best  gown,  dear,"  retorted  Mae. 
"So  you  are  really  going  abroad,  Mr.  Sweet 
ing?  How  lovely!" 

"Lovely,"  echoed  Dolly.  "You  take  two 
lumps,  don't  you,  Mae?" 

"When  I  can  get  them.  Evelyn  usually 
forgets  to  buy  any  for  ours;  then  she  says 
sugar  is  unwholesome.  Oh,  Dolly,  I  want  a 
word  with  you  presently." 

"So  do  I — Dolly,"  whispered  the  masculine 
guest.  "I  sail  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow 

morning,  and  I " 

226 


And  the  Angel  Child 

"That  is  three  times  you  have  told  Dolly 
that,  Mr.  Sweeting,"  remarked  the  Angel 
Child.  "She  knew  it  quite  well  already,  too, 
because  Mr.  Rafferty  told  her;  I  heard  him. 
She  did  not  seem  to  feel  as  bad  as  he  did,  but 
she  thinks  you  deserve  your  good  fortune,  and 
that  you  will  be  a  great  man  some  day." 

Belinda  rose  to  the  occasion.  "Come  with 
me  into  the  next  room,  Edward,"  she  said. 
"I  want  to  show  you  what  a  nice  cake  cup 
board  I  have  made  out  of  an  old  packing- 
trunk." 

"Oh,  how  I  envy  you  London,  Mr.  Sweet 
ing!"  gushed  Mae.  "I  know  it  thoroughly. 
I  was  there  two  whole  days  once.  And  per 
haps  you  will  run  over  to  Paris,  too.  Oh,  dear, 
it  makes  me  ill  to  think  of  Paris,  and  the  lovely 
copper  milk  cans  you  can  get  there,  and  those 
exquisite  draperies,  too.  When  I  was  there, 
and  could  have  picked  them  up,  I  had  only 
enough  money  to  pay  for  my  lessons  and  my 
board,  and  now — what  is  it,  Evelyn?" 

"I  was  thinking  that  perhaps  Mr.  Sweeting 
would  get  you  one  of  those  cans,  while  he  is 
227 


The  Very  Young 

in  Paris.  It  is  always  better  to  ask  -for  what 
you  want  in  this  world,  dear.  People  are  al 
ways  selfishly  thinking  of  their  own  affairs,  you 
know." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Sweeting,  would  you?" 
"Delighted,  I  am  sure,  Miss  Blossom." 
"How  well  you  dissemble  your  joy;  still, 
I  do  so  want  it.     Will  you  wait  here  while  I 

go   for  the  money?     All   right,   then,   I 

Why,  here  is  Miss  Adams!" 

"With  pleasure.  Oh,  by  the  way,  Miss 
Adams,  I  saw  a  lady  ringing  your  bell  when 
I  came  up,  a  while  ago." 

"She  has  gone  away  by  this  time,  anyhow. 
Please  give  me  a  cup  of  tea,  Dolly ;  I  have  been 
shopping,  and  that  makes  one  so  thirsty.  Oh, 
is  that  Belinda's  new  lion  over  by  the  door? 
I  must  have  a  look  at  it;  have  you  seen  it, 
Evelyn?" 

"I  sail  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  morning, 
and  I  must  see  you  alone,  if  only  for  a  moment. 
I  have  been  trying  to  speak  to  you  for  a  week, 
ever  since  my  news  came;  but  I  could  never 


228 


And  the  Angel  Child 

get  a  chance,"  whispered  the  Very  Young 
Man. 

"You  might  have  written  what  you  had  to 
say,"  said  Dolly,  suavely. 

"So  I  might;  especially  since  you  and  Miss 
Manly  open  each  other's  letters!  As  for  see 
ing  you  alone — when  I  asked  you  to  go  to  the 
exhibition,  you  brought  three  of  them  along. 
If  it  had  been  two  or  four,  I  shouldn't  have 
minded,  because  they  could  have  paired  off, 
but " 

"I  am  sure  it  is  very  unkind  of  you  to  say 
such  things,  and  grudge  Evelyn  and  Mae  and 
Belinda  that  little  pleasure — when  they  said 
such  nice  things  about  your  generosity,  too!" 

"And  when  I  asked  you  to  walk  with  me 
in  the  park  and  see  the  purple  shadows  on  the 
snow,  that  day  that  Edward  had  sore  throat, 
you  brought " 

"Only  Evelyn,  that  day,  and  she  is  so  fond 
of  purple  shadows,  too !  As  long  as  I  live,  I 
mean  to — to  share  my  pleasures  with  other 
bachelor  girls,  and " 

"Here  is  the  money,  Mr.  Sweeting.  I  met 
229 


The  Very  Young  Ma.i\ 

Anne  in  the  street  and  borrowed  it  from  Her* 
And,  oh,  if  you  could  find  me  a  real  good  piece 
of  drapery — a  faded  brown,  you  know,  or, 
something  like  that — I  would  be  your  debtor 
for  life,"  said  Mae,  entering  hastily.  "Come 
and  sit  by  me,  and  tell  me  all  about  your  plans ; 
I  am  so  much  interested  in  them.  And  how 
poor  Mr.  Tracy  will  miss  you,  to  be  sure!" 

"Oh,  no,  he  won't,  Miss  Blossom,"  said  the 
Angel  Child.  "Mr.  Tracy  says  that  a  man  in 
love  is  poor  company,  even  forliimself.  For 
his  part,  he  thinks  he  will  go  live  with  Mr. 

Hardy,  who  is  too  sensible  to Gracious, 

Miss  Belinda!  did  you  know  that  you  knocked 
over  a  teacup  when  you  jumped  ?  You  must  be 
as  nervous  as  Dolly." 

"Oh,  speaking  of  Mr.  Hardy,  Mr.  Rafferty 
was  here  this  morning,"  said  Dolly.  "He  says 
that  Katrine  has  gone,  and  he  is  going  to 
morrow  to  his  cousin's  and  find  Mr.  Hardy 
another  handmaiden.  He  says  that  the  misery 
in  his  side  is  very  bad,  however,  and  if  it  rains 
to-morrow,  he  will  go  to-day  instead." 

"The  cake  is  all  gone  now ;  there  was  only  a 
230 


And  the  Angel  Child 

little  of  it  left,  anyhow,"  sighed  the  Angel 
Child,  after  the  laughter  had  subsided.  "I 
think  we  had  better  go  now,  Mr.  Sweeting; 
I  don't  believe  the  ladies  are  very  glad  to  see 
us  anyhow,  and  I  have  a  very  uncomfortable 
feeling.  I  don't  know  whether  it  is  the  cake 
or  because  you  are  going  away,  but " 

"Don't  be  in  a  hurry,  Mr.  Sweeting,"  said 
Belinda,  kindly.  "We  are  going  to  the  theater, 
as  you  know,  this  evening,  and  this  will  be  our 
last  chance  to  see  you.  Edward  can  go  up 
stairs  by  himself,  and " 

"I  know  I  can,  but  mamma  isn't  there.  She 
was  going  to  see  Aunt  Alice,  and  I  was  going 
with  her,  when  we  met  Mr.  Sweeting  at  the 
door.  He  said  he  would  bring  me  to  her  when 
we  came  away  from  here.  I  want  to  see 
mamma  dreadfully,  and  Mrs.  Rafferty  says  it 
is  no  use  for  Mr.  Sweeting  to  dangle  after 

Dolly,  anyway;  because Ow,  that  is  not 

the  way  to  put  on  my  coat,  Mr.  Sweeting !" 

"I  am  sorry  that  you  must  go,"  said  Dolly, 
as  she  helped  the  Angel  Child  into  his  outer 
garments. 

23J 


The  Very  Young 

"It  seems  that  I  must;"  there  was  ice  in  the 
voice  of  the  Very  Young  Man.  "You  are  so 
busy,  however,  that  I  cannot  dare  hope  that  you 
will  miss  me.  Good-bye,  Miss  Watterson ;  we 
may  never  meet  again." 

When  the  door  had  closed  behind  the  mas 
culine  guests,  Dolly  turned  an  expressionless 
face  to  the  others.  "Excuse  me  a  moment, 
girls,  and  don't  talk  about  anything  really  in 
teresting,  until  I  come  back,  will  you  ?  A  hair 
pin  is  boring  a  hole  into  my  skull,  and  I  have 
no  brains  to  spare." 

"Men  •  are  queer  creatures,"  said  Miss 
Adams,  impartially.  "Now,  Mr.  Sweeting 
seems  quite  upset  about  something,  and  yet 
he  has  just  come  into  a  fortune,  and  is  going 
abroad  as  well." 

"Either  one  of  which  facts  would  make  me 
perfectly  happy,"  sighed  Evelyn. 

"Or  me — but  then,  I  ask  so  little  in  this 
world,"  murmured  Mae.  "Dear  me,  Belinda, 
I  often  feel  that  I  could  shake  you  and  Dolly; 
you  are  so  contented  to  be  bachelor  girls  and 


232 


And  the  Angel  Child 

buy  your  own  theater  tickets  for  life.  Mercy, 
what  was  that  ?" 

There  was  an  exclamation,  and  Dolly  bounced 
into  the  room,  shutting  and  locking  the  door 
after  her. 

"There's  a  mouse  in  there — I  saw  it!"  she 
wailed. 

"Humph,"  said  Evelyn.  "It  wouldn't  hurt 
you,  goosie.  I'd  be  ashamed " 

"I — I  was  afraid  it  might  get  away!"  fal 
tered  Dolly.  Then  she  sank  into  the  Morris 
chair  and  began  to  laugh  and  cry  at  once. 

"Ring  for  the  janitor,  Evelyn,"  commanded 
Belinda.  "Open  the  window,  Mae;  fetch  her 
a  cup  of  tea,  Miss  Adams,  and  hand  me  that 
rug  off  the  couch,  somebody.  Yes,  we  did 
ring,  Mr.  Rafferty!  There  is  a  mouse  in  the 
other  room.  It  seems  to  me — Dolly,  stop,  this 
minute! — that  an  apartment  house  ought  at 
least  to  be  free  from  mice.  I  shall  complain 

to  the  agent  at  once,  if Oh,  is  that  you, 

Mr.  Sweeting?  Walk  in." 

"I — er — believe  it  is,  Miss  Manly.  I  met 
Mrs.  Wycoff  at  the  door,  and  she  took  the 
233 


The  Very  Young  Man 

Angel  Child.  I  only  returned  for  a  moment 
— I  think  I  left  my  cane.  But  what " 

Dolly  suddenly  sat  up  very  straight,  knock 
ing  over  the  cup  of  tea  Miss  Adams  was  just 
presenting,  as  she  did  so.  She  put  up  both 
hands  to  her  disordered  hair. 

"I — I  forgot  to  eat  my  luncheon  to-day,  and 
I  am  tired,  too.  My  work  didn't  go  very  well, 

either,  and  then  that  mouse Oh,  won't 

you  sit  down?" 

Mr.  Sweeting  did  not  sit  down.  He  stood 
up,  very  straight,  and  tall,  and  rather  pale,  in 
the  exact  spot,  as  Belinda  noted,  at  which  the 
moth-holes  in  the  drapery  above  the  cabinet 
were  most  visible,  and  where  you  could  easily 
see  that  the  leg  of  the  mahogany  table  had  been 
mended.  Mr.  Sweeting,  however,  noted  none 
of  these  distressing  things.  He  seemed  sud 
denly  to  have  grown  older.  He  said,  in  firm, 
clear  tones : 

"Thank  you,  I  will  not  sit  down.  Miss 
Belinda,  Miss  Evelyn,  Miss  Adams,  Miss  Mae, 
I  sail  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  morning1,  and 


234 


And  the  Angel  Child 

I  want  a  chance  to  ask  Dolly  to  marry  me,  be 
fore  I  go.     Will  you  give  it  to  me?" 

Dolly  cast  one  frightened  look  at  Belinda. 
"Girls,  I — I  don't  want  to  hear  him."  She 
wrung  her  hands  helplessly. 

Belinda  grasped  the  hand  of  the  Very  Young 
Man  a  moment.  Then  she  deliberately  walked 
over  to  Dolly  and  shook  her. 

"You  do  want  to  hear  him,  Dolly  Watter- 
son,  and  you  know  it,"  she  said,  sternly. 
"You  are  no  more  fitted  to  be  a  bachelor  girl, 
than  I  am  to  be  a — a  juggler,"  she  concluded, 
lamely.  "Girls,  come  with  me." 

"Well,  I — I  never  did!"  quavered  Miss 
Adams.  "Belinda,  this  is  most  extraordinary. 
I  feel  quite — quite  weak!" 

"Belinda  Manly,  I  never  thought  you  would 
throw  Dolly  at  any  man's  head,  in  that  fashion. 
I  am  astonished  at  you !"  gasped  Mae. 
1      "And  so  am  I!"  cried  Evelyn.     "But,  oh, 
Mae,  wasn't  it  lovely?     Quite  like  a  play!" 

"I  didn't  throw  her  at  his  head!"  sobbed 
Belinda.     "He  is  dreadfully  in  love  with  her. 
I  like  him;  he  always  wears  such  nice  clean 
235 


The  Very  Young 

collars,  and  he  never  forgets  to  be  polite,  no 
matter  how  you  snub  him." 

"I  believe  I  am  going  to  cry,  too,"  said  Mae. 
"It  makes  you  feel  sort  of  odd  when  a  man  acts 
like  that,  even  because  of  another  girl !" 

"I  think  it  is  odd — very  odd!"  exclaimed 
Miss  Adams.  "I  shall  be  ill  to-morrow  from 
all  this  excitement,  see  if  I  am  not !  I  wish  I 
had  not  come  this  afternoon.  Oh,  Belinda, 
I  wonder  what  they  are  saying  now  ?" 

But  Belinda  said  nothing;  with  her  head  in 
Evelyn's  lap,  she  wept  like  an  ordinary  girl. 

The  Very  Young  Man's  courage  suddenly 
left  him,  when  the  door  closed  after  the  aston 
ished  quartette.  He  stood  quite  still,  with  his 
hat  in  his  hand,  and  looked  timidly  at  Dolly. 
But  Dolly's  face  was  hidden  in  her  handker 
chief,  and  she,  too,  said  nothing. 

"I — I  suppose  I  had  better  go,  if  you  have 
nothing  to  say  to  me,"  he  ventured,  finally. 
"Shall  I  go,  Dolly?  If  I  do  go,  this  time,  I 
shall  not  come  back,  you  know." 

There  was  no  reply;  Dolly  had  not  changed 
her  position.  The  Very  Young  Man  turned 
236 


And  the  Angel  Child 

and  walked  slowly  to  the  door.  He  opened 
it,  slowly,  too.  "Good-by,"  he  said,  mourn 
fully.  The  door  clanged  shut 

Dolly  started  to  her  feet.  "He  is  gone!" 
she  cried,  wildly.  "What  shall  I  do?"  . 

"No,  I  haven't.  I  came  back  for — for  some 
thing  that  belongs  to  me,  and " 

"And  I  suppose  it  is  me,"  whispered  Dolly, 
meekly. 

'Half  an  hour  later,  the  Very  Young  Man 
started  suddenly  to  his  feet.  "Is  that  clock 
right?"  he  cried. 

"Of  course  it  isn't  right,"  smiled  Dolly;  "it's 
a  French  clock.  But  what  is  the  matter?" 

He  was  consulting  his  watch.  "I  have  just 
time  to  catch  him  at  his  office,  if  I  take  a  cab !" 

"To  catch  whom?"  Dolly  was  smoothing  her 
rumpled  hair;  her  eyes  were  very  bright  and 
blue. 

"The  man  who  wanted  to  sail  by  this  boat, 

and  couldn't  get  a  berth ;  he  can  have  mine,  and 

I  shall  sail  next  week — with  my  wife."     He 

came    back  from    the    endi   of    the    hall.     "I 

237 


The  Very  Young  Ma.n 

suppose  it  is  really  true;  I  haven't  dreamed  it, 
have  I?" 

"It  is,  it  is!"  wailed  Dolly.  "Belinda  was 
right.  I  am  not  fitted  to  be  a  bachelor  girl; 
I  am  dreadfully  afraid  on  the  street,  after  dark, 
and  I  hate  to  scold  the  janitor !" 

When  his  footsteps  had  quite  died  away, 
Dolly  went  softly  to  the  door  leading  into  the 
next  room.  The  girls  were  gone,  but  she  could 
hear  Belinda  pacing  up  and  down.  She  hesi 
tated  a  moment ;  then  she  opened  the  door. 

"Oh,  Belinda,  to  think  that  I  have  broken 
our  compact !"  she  wailed ;  and  fell  into  the  out 
stretched  arms. 

When  they  had  both  cried  until  they  felt 
better,  Belinda  rose  and  went  to  the  window, 
through  which  only  a  faint  light  now  entered. 
She  stood  with  her  back  to  the  room. 

"Dolly,  I — I  have  something  to  tell  you ;  no, 
don't  come!  I — I  can  tell  it  where  you  are." 

There  was  a  long  silence.  Dolly  was  hu 
man. 

"You  had  something  to  tell  me?"  she  asked. 

*'I  have.  Dolly,  Mr.  Hardy  was  here  this 
238 


And  the  Angel  Child 

morning,  while  you  were  out.     He Don't 

look  at  me;  I  feel  your  eyes  through  the  back 
of  my  head;  I  won't  tell  you,  if  you  look  at 
me!  Have  you  turned  your  back?" 

"Yes,"  said  Dolly,  breathlessly;  "go  on." 
"He  asked  me  to — to  marry  him!" 
"Oh,  you   poor,  poor  dear!     And  you  want 
me  to  break  it  to  him  gently — to  refuse  him  for 
you.     I  see." 

"I  want — nothing  of  the  kind,  Dolly  Wat- 
terson.     I  accepted  him !" 

"Well,  I  never!"  cried  Dolly. 


THE  END. 


239 


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